“The Scarlet Ibis” Nina Markle
Literary Criticism April 4, 2015
“The Scarlet Ibis” Essay
Foreshadowing plays a big part in the telling of James Hurst’s “The Scarlet Ibis.” The foreshadowing in this story makes it more suspenseful because the reader wonders if what they’re reading at the beginning of the story is what will happen when the book concludes. Also it brings mystery to the story because once you get to the end, everything the reader wondered about finally pieces itself together. The elements play a big part in the telling of the story, and if the reader pays attention to these elements then they can foreshadow the hints the author places between the lines. There are many other elements the author used in the story, but some would be called tone, …show more content…
Within the story, imagery would be considered death imagery because the significance of the use of imagery was to portray death-like atmosphere that would foreshadow that death would play a big part in “The Scarlet Ibis.” Within the first couple sentences the author shows us how “dead” he can make things, “The flower garden was stained with rotting brown magnolia petals…” (Hurst, pg.384). Hearing that something is rotting immediately insinuates that death is already hanging in the air. “Everybody thought he was going to die…” (Hurst, pg.384). Doodle’s birth sounded more like a death; which foreshadows Doodle’s actual death at the end of Hurst’s story. “Such a name only sounds good on a tombstone.”(Hurst. pg.385). Again telling the reader that Doodle wasn’t supposed to live past his first day as an infant, and his name was chosen not for him, but for sight of a tombstone sticking out of his
Literary Criticism April 4, 2015
“The Scarlet Ibis” Essay
Foreshadowing plays a big part in the telling of James Hurst’s “The Scarlet Ibis.” The foreshadowing in this story makes it more suspenseful because the reader wonders if what they’re reading at the beginning of the story is what will happen when the book concludes. Also it brings mystery to the story because once you get to the end, everything the reader wondered about finally pieces itself together. The elements play a big part in the telling of the story, and if the reader pays attention to these elements then they can foreshadow the hints the author places between the lines. There are many other elements the author used in the story, but some would be called tone, …show more content…
Within the story, imagery would be considered death imagery because the significance of the use of imagery was to portray death-like atmosphere that would foreshadow that death would play a big part in “The Scarlet Ibis.” Within the first couple sentences the author shows us how “dead” he can make things, “The flower garden was stained with rotting brown magnolia petals…” (Hurst, pg.384). Hearing that something is rotting immediately insinuates that death is already hanging in the air. “Everybody thought he was going to die…” (Hurst, pg.384). Doodle’s birth sounded more like a death; which foreshadows Doodle’s actual death at the end of Hurst’s story. “Such a name only sounds good on a tombstone.”(Hurst. pg.385). Again telling the reader that Doodle wasn’t supposed to live past his first day as an infant, and his name was chosen not for him, but for sight of a tombstone sticking out of his