People seem to believe that time passes by either quickly or slowly. The truth is that time passes by both rapidly and slowly, but at certain points in life it appears to pass by more quickly or more slowly than others. The narrator and protagonist of James Hurst’s short story “The Scarlet Ibis”, Brother, is now reflecting back on his life when he was younger, as if peering through a window where he can see the past. Now all grown up, he recognizes how he has treated Doodle, his younger brother, and how he could have impacted Doodle’s life as a result. Brother deserves a considerable amount of the blame for how Doodle is treated, but he does not deserve all of it. He is insecure about what people think of him and does not want people to associate
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When Doodle is born, Brother is told that Doodle will not be able to do much physically because of how fragile Doodle’s health is. “He was born when I was six and was, from the outset, a disappointment”(485). Brother has always wanted a sibling. He has always wanted someone to compete in races against, climb trees with, someone to box with, someone to have fun with. Brother is already thinking of Doodle in a negative way because he is unhappy that his brother is not going to be able to do any of these things. Brother complains, “It was bad enough having an invalid brother, but having one who possibly was not all there was unbearable, so I began to make plans to kill him by smothering him with a pillow”(485). The protagonist is planning to suffocate him soon after he is born. Brother does not expect much of Doodle. He displays cruelty by deciding that it is better to murder his brother since he will be unable to do much physical movement then let him live. However, he does not end up killing Doodle, but when Doodle is older, Brother lets him in on a secret. Brother reminisces, “One day I took him [Doodle] up to the barn loft and showed him his casket, telling how we all had believed he would die”(486). This is exceedingly cruel of Brother to do. The secret that Doodle is let in on is that almost everyone in his family thought he was going to die, which is not something anyone would like to hear. Showing Doodle his casket is a traumatic experience for him. Because Brother does this, Doodle could have nightmares, PTSD, or even just be scarred for life. Brother does not need to be this cruel to his
When Doodle is born, Brother is told that Doodle will not be able to do much physically because of how fragile Doodle’s health is. “He was born when I was six and was, from the outset, a disappointment”(485). Brother has always wanted a sibling. He has always wanted someone to compete in races against, climb trees with, someone to box with, someone to have fun with. Brother is already thinking of Doodle in a negative way because he is unhappy that his brother is not going to be able to do any of these things. Brother complains, “It was bad enough having an invalid brother, but having one who possibly was not all there was unbearable, so I began to make plans to kill him by smothering him with a pillow”(485). The protagonist is planning to suffocate him soon after he is born. Brother does not expect much of Doodle. He displays cruelty by deciding that it is better to murder his brother since he will be unable to do much physical movement then let him live. However, he does not end up killing Doodle, but when Doodle is older, Brother lets him in on a secret. Brother reminisces, “One day I took him [Doodle] up to the barn loft and showed him his casket, telling how we all had believed he would die”(486). This is exceedingly cruel of Brother to do. The secret that Doodle is let in on is that almost everyone in his family thought he was going to die, which is not something anyone would like to hear. Showing Doodle his casket is a traumatic experience for him. Because Brother does this, Doodle could have nightmares, PTSD, or even just be scarred for life. Brother does not need to be this cruel to his