The Plight of Doodle
In the 20th century, physically disabled kids’ lives were a daily struggle; Doodle, a character from “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, lives this simple truth. He is born different. At first, his brother hates him for it and constantly tries to get rid of Doodle and go off by himself. After a while, he starts to treat Doodle better with only occasional cruel relapses of his former attitude. With difficulty, Doodle learns to walk through his brother’s encouragement. After a massive hurricane, a scarlet ibis shows up in the front lawn and promptly dies. Doodle seems fascinated by this strange, exotic bird. A few weeks after the bird dies on the family's front lawn, tragedy occurs after Doodle’s brother pushes too far. Strangely, this tragedy reminds everyone of the strange scarlet ibis that Doodle was so fascinated with earlier. Throughout the retelling of his early life, Doodle’s brother displays arrogance, …show more content…
He shows this perseverance while trying to teach Doodle to walk: “It seemed so hopeless from the beginning that it’s a miracle I didn’t give up” (337). Even after setting Doodle on his feet hundreds of times, Doodle’s brother refused to stop trying, and continued onward. He does not complain either, just grits his teeth and carries onward. This willful determination also shows up when Doodle starts his second round of “training”: “The excitement of our program had now been gone for weeks, but still we kept on with a tired doggedness” (340). Despite his youth and how easy it would have been to give up, Doodle’s brother continues on with a will of someone much older than him. The second exercise program, in which Doodle tries to learn to run, climb, and swim, was even more hopeless than the first, therefore making it a more difficult task to carry on. All of his determination usually adds up to spectacular things, but at times, his willful attitude can make him rather
In the 20th century, physically disabled kids’ lives were a daily struggle; Doodle, a character from “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, lives this simple truth. He is born different. At first, his brother hates him for it and constantly tries to get rid of Doodle and go off by himself. After a while, he starts to treat Doodle better with only occasional cruel relapses of his former attitude. With difficulty, Doodle learns to walk through his brother’s encouragement. After a massive hurricane, a scarlet ibis shows up in the front lawn and promptly dies. Doodle seems fascinated by this strange, exotic bird. A few weeks after the bird dies on the family's front lawn, tragedy occurs after Doodle’s brother pushes too far. Strangely, this tragedy reminds everyone of the strange scarlet ibis that Doodle was so fascinated with earlier. Throughout the retelling of his early life, Doodle’s brother displays arrogance, …show more content…
He shows this perseverance while trying to teach Doodle to walk: “It seemed so hopeless from the beginning that it’s a miracle I didn’t give up” (337). Even after setting Doodle on his feet hundreds of times, Doodle’s brother refused to stop trying, and continued onward. He does not complain either, just grits his teeth and carries onward. This willful determination also shows up when Doodle starts his second round of “training”: “The excitement of our program had now been gone for weeks, but still we kept on with a tired doggedness” (340). Despite his youth and how easy it would have been to give up, Doodle’s brother continues on with a will of someone much older than him. The second exercise program, in which Doodle tries to learn to run, climb, and swim, was even more hopeless than the first, therefore making it a more difficult task to carry on. All of his determination usually adds up to spectacular things, but at times, his willful attitude can make him rather