Summary Of The Story 'The Scarlet Ibis' By James Hurst

Decent Essays
Viridiana Magana
Mrs. Peyron
English Comp/Period 7
12 October 2015
BROTHER'S PRIDE
'The Scarlet Ibis' by James Hurst, is a tragic story about a little boy named Doodle, born with a medical condition. However, we find out that the narrator, Brother, is the one that feels embarrassed by Doodle's condition. Throughout, the story Brother helps and sometimes even pushes Doodle to his limits to overcome his disability for his own selfish reasons. As the story continues, Brother tries to fill the irreplaceable hole in his heart caused by his own ego and shameness towards Doodle.
Brother is constantly reminding Doodle about his disability, making Doodle want to prove him wrong by completing difficult tasks. Brother makes Doodle touch his own casket

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Scarlet Ibis Symbolism

    • 484 Words
    • 2 Pages

    “The Scarlet Ibis” is a book published in 1960 by James Hurst. It talks about a young boy, who’s aunt was pregnant, and delivered a boy who had problems from birth. They said that mentally, he might not be “all there”, but he was. The doctor said that he could not get too cold, too hot, cannot exert himself, or his heart would give up. This didn’t stop the narrator from having one of the best brothers ever, Doodle.…

    • 484 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Things may not turn out as well as some people have thought. This is the same in the short story of “The Scarlet Ibis,” written by James Hurst.(Brief Summary) This describes how a older brother has pushed his little brother way over his capabilities, and “kills” him. This narrative however has a well developed central message that of, people need to accept other people for who that are and not try to change them. (Thesis Statement)…

    • 453 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The narrator in “the Scarlet Ibis”, also known as Doodle’s brother, has many traits that lead him to leaving his brother to die in the storm. The narrator only helps his brother to help himself, which makes him extremely selfish. When Doodle had learned to walk, the narrator explains how “Doodle walked only because [I] was ashamed of having a crippled brother.” He had taught Doodle to walk for himself “that pride, whose slave [I] was, spoke to [me] louder than all their voices.” He didn’t teach Doodle because he wanted to help him, he did this so that he would not have to be seen with his crippled brother.…

    • 335 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Doodle and his brother were pretty close, but his brother was embarrassed by him. Doodle is a very young and frail boy that is not fully functional. The book “The Scarlet Ibis.” symbolizes a bird which is called a Scarlet Ibis. The bird and the boy are very similar, they both have physical weakness in there legs. With Doodles legs being weak, his brother (the narrator) is very embarrassed.…

    • 414 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Scarlet Ibis Thesis

    • 276 Words
    • 2 Pages

    He later finds out his brother is crippled, ill, and weak. The author then pushes his brother to become strong, which led to Doodle’s death. The author is cruel because he wanted to kill his brother. “I began to make plans to kill by smothering him with a pillow. (Hurst 595)”.…

    • 276 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    From the beginning of the story, Brother sees Doodle as a weak resemblance of his own character. In Brother’s eyes, Doodle needs “fixing.” Brother states that, “When Doodle was five years old, I was embarrassed at having a brother of that age who couldn’t walk, so I set out to teach him” (Hurst, 489). Brother’s pride is the spark that starts the flame of Doodle’s downfall.…

    • 1646 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Scarlet Ibis is the story of two brothers and focuses on the conflict in their stormy Relationship. The younger brother, “Doodle” is physically disabled, and the narrator and older sibling “Brother” is embarrassed by Doodle’s disabilities. Brother’s emotions towards Doodle are conflicted; he loves Doodle, but he is also ashamed of him and pushes him past his breaking point teaching him to talk and walk. Brother’s pride is the real reason that he wants to teach Doodle and this pride is both wonderful and terrible at the same time. He treats him unfairly and without compassion at times, pulling him recklessly in the wagon (335), and walking too fast so that Doodle can not keep pace with him (340).…

    • 510 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Brother, the narrator didn’t accept his younger brother Doodle, because he couldn’t walk, run, swim, or anything Brother would want to do with his new younger brother. He was ashamed of his sibling’s disability, so in his selfishness and boredom he tried to teach Doodle to walk. The story follows Doodle’s progress over the summer, and shows how the family bonds over his improvement.…

    • 228 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the short story, “The Scarlet Ibis,” James Hurst indirectly characterizes the narrator as prideful and sadistic through his thoughts and actions, to convey the idea that an excessive amount of pride causes someone to be deceitful, and act for their own personal gain at someone else’s cost. “The Scarlet Ibis” revolves around the narrator, recalling on his past memory of Doodle, his “invalid” younger sibling. The narrator longs for someone to run with, play with, and fight with; a brother to be proud of. However, the birth of a frail and severely disabled younger brother is a disappointment. When the narrator insists upon teaching Doodle how to walk, he slowly begins to feel proud of Doodle and his accomplishments.…

    • 1332 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    This shows that you shouldn’t let your cruelty and pride deprive you of your judgement because instead of helping his brother get back home safely, the narrator, out of cruelty, decides to run, leaving his brother far behind. After this act, the narrator returns to find his brother only to learn that Doodle had died. To conclude, the short story “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst proclaims the theme that you shouldn’t let your pride and cruelty deprive you of your…

    • 501 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Great Essays

    His lack of respect for his sibling’s disabilities shows that he does not seem to care or be cautious about the deficits of others, and he considers those with impairments to be nuisances. Since he appears to only care about the well-being of himself, Brother possesses a self-important way of thinking. His conceited attitude is also portrayed when he begins teaching Doodle to do activities an allegedly normal boy would do. When reminiscing upon the moments shared among the siblings, Brother explains, “When Doodle was five years old, I was embarrassed at having a brother of that age who couldn’t walk, so I set out to teach him”(Hurst 488). Brother, finding a handicapped sibling humiliating, decides to train his younger brother in an attempt to improve his [Doodle’s] physical abilities.…

    • 1970 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Doodle looked up to his brother. Even though he was disabled, Doodle worked hard to get better. All so that he could please the narrator. Doodle and the narrator aren't very alike…

    • 606 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Brother is a very narcissistic person who only wants to make himself look better for having a disabled brother. In the beginning of the story, Brother is beyond excited to have a sibling, but when he finds out that he is not what he considers normal looking, or physically able, he lashes out. He starts to plan ways that he could actually murder Doodle. One way he wanted to do that was by “smothering him with a pillow.…

    • 540 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Doodle’s brother responsibility was to keep Doodle safe. Obviously he did not because he left Doodle behind during major storm, which determines that Doodle’s brother was not very responsible for Doodle. When the narrator felt he was taking care of Doodle, by working him endlessly, he was not he Just worked Doodle way to hard. This shows that Doodle’s brother resents his responsibility of taking care of Doodle. Since Doodle had a disability, the narrator did not have any respect for having a useless brother.…

    • 820 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    At this point, Brothers pride is excessive and causes him to abandons his younger brother. When Brother finally went back he discovered his brother dead. “He had been bleeding from the mouth, and his neck and the front of his shirt were stained a brilliant red” (354). Brother pushes Doodle too far this time. His actions were helpful before where they were encouraging Doodle to have a better life, later they become so excessive Brothers pride pushes Doodle far beyond his capabilities.…

    • 748 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays