The Narrator In The Scarlet Ibis

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. The narrator’s pride along the storyline and his belief in his own fallibility grows after been emboldened by the success of Doodle. The abundant amount of pride the narrator has blinds him, ruining his perspective of his brother, Doodle. He also begins to realize that pride is double-sided, and has the ability to push one to achieve their goals, however, can also be destructive if one loses sight of what the true aim of the task is. The narrator begins to care for his brother, but his pride blinds him from seeing the truth and result of his actions. His pride soon overtakes him as he begins to see the disparity between the brother he receives, and the one he wants. Out of embarrassment for his brother, he decides to teach Doodle how to walk in secret. He laboriously works with him at Old Woman Swamp until Doodle eventually succeeds. On Doodle’s sixth birthday, the narrator delivers the news to his family, who then embrace the two of them in elation. Doodle’s father asks, “‘What are you crying for?’” when he notices the older brother’s eyes fill with tears of unspoken shame, because “They did not know that [the narrator] did it for [himself], that pride, whose slave [he] was, spoke to [him] louder than all their voices, and that Doodle walked only because [he] was ashamed of having a crippled brother.” (8). It is evident that the actions the narrator makes are driven by the growing pride hidden inside of him. He is unable to own up to his father when asked why he was crying, because he knows that the only reason he taught his “crippled” brother to walk was out of humiliation and shame. The protagonist becomes a “slave” towards his own pride, and the pride within him slowly begins to overtake his actions and decisions, forcing him to take actions he wasn’t proud of. A slave is defined as one who is property of another, and overly influenced by their decisions. His pride served as the master, and overtime took control of his actions, leaving him to surrender unconsciously to his own pride. It also provides him with the wrong sense of motivation making him believe that he is capable of doing anything, and …show more content…
His pride prompted his desperate need for the ideal sibling, pushing Doodle beyond his limits and in the end, leaving both him and Doodle with nothing left to gain. The narrator’s deceitful act resulted in him sacrificing Doodle over the gain of an excessive amount of pride. The “streak of cruelty” the narrator faces is awakened by his failure to teach Doodle, and Doodle’s incapability of retaining the skills the narrator taught him, resulting in him running away and abandoning Doodle. The phrase, “what are the words that can solder cracked pride,” mentioned by the protagonist refers to how his pride along the storyline slowly tares the narrator as well as the people around him apart. The protagonist’s pride negatively affected his mindset, causing him to make decisions that he later regrets. It led him to becoming characterized as sadistic, through his refusal to accept his disabled brother for who he is. As the story progresses, he begins to realize the disastrous effects of pride and toll it took on Doodle’s life. The protagonist begins to recognize that there are no words to “solder” the tear pride ripped together again. Once something is broken, it will forever remain apart. You can not make it the same as it once was ever