• Home Page
  • The Scarlet Ibis Literary Analysis

The Scarlet Ibis Literary Analysis

Improved Essays
Show More
In James Hurst’s “The Scarlet Ibis,” a boy is determined to make his disabled brother who he wants him to be. Brother, the narrator, constantly pushes Doodle to the limit, forcing him to walk when not even Doodle himself had the confidence that he could be able to. Doodle is overworked which leads to a devastating event. The narrator has both resentment and regret because even though he is proud at first, he regrets ever pushing Doodle to his limit and this is shown through events in the story.
Firstly, Brother is always pushing Doodle because Doodle would say he couldn't do it and he just wanted to give up. "I can't walk, Brother,” Doodle cried (pg. 4) The narrator would not let him give up because he didn’t want to be embarrassed to carry

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Scarlet Ibis Compare Contrast Essay
    • 589 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Scarlet Ibis Compare Contrast Essay

    In the story The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst we learn of 2 brothers, one of them is nicknamed Doodle since his original name wasn’t suitable. Doodle was born with an unknown disease that causes him to have low levels of exhaustion. On the other hand we have his brother, who is a young boy who only wished for a brother than could “running, jumping, or climbing vines” (Hurst 1). Since Doodle’s brother wasn’t going to let down his dream of having a brother who wasn’t disabled he set out to teach him. Doodle makes a lot of progress, however school is about to start and his brother isn’t pleased with the progress they have made, so they set out on the last day to train harder.…

    • 589 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Decent Essays

    The Scarlet Ibis Literary Analysis
    • 649 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Scarlet Ibis Literary Analysis

    Somebody once said that "You sometimes have to lose somebody before you can finally know what they mean to you." "The Scarlet Ibis", a short story written by James Hurst, is primarily focusing on a disabled, yet compassionate young boy named Doodle who is being pushed to overcome many obstacles in life by the narrator, Brother. This encouragement and pushing for Doodle to succeed out of Brother's pride leads to the mournful death of Doodle after Brother fails to stay with him during the storm. The images of the fallen Scarlet Ibis and Doodle's death help to convey the somber yet sympathetic mood. The image of the fallen Ibis initially creates the sympathetic mood.…

    • 649 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    The Scarlet Ibis Pride Quotes
    • 1646 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The Scarlet Ibis Pride Quotes

    The graveyards flowers bloom as they take their last sights of summer, while the oriole sings a dying song up in the bleeding tree. A grindstone turns and crumbles away at the time that was spent between the protagonist, Brother, and his younger sibling, Doodle. It is then that Brother remembers all the time they spent working through his condition. Brother also recalls what happened to Doodle, and how much he is to be held accountable for. In James Hurst’s short story “The Scarlet Ibis,” Brother is to blame for the cruelties done to Doodle; however, he is not totally at fault because his actions are out of love.…

    • 1646 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Decent Essays

    The Scarlet Ibis By James Hurst: A Short Story
    • 228 Words
    • 1 Pages

    The Scarlet Ibis By James Hurst: A Short Story

    In James Hurst’s short story entitled “The Scarlet Ibis,” Doodle’s brother, the protagonist, changed his attitude from proud to ashamed to illustrate the message that people who experience pride toward another often experience a change in perspective due to that pride. Hurst highlights this when, at the end of the story, the protagonist pushed Doodle to do many activities that Doodle could not do because of his weak heart. Doodle’s brother wanted Doodle to be like everyone else because the protagonist did not want to be embarrassed by his younger brother’s condition. When the narrator was walking with Doodle to the river, he mentioned that “Time was short, and Doodle still had a long way to go if he was going to keep up with the other boys…

    • 228 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Symbolism In The Scarlet Ibis
    • 510 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Symbolism In The Scarlet Ibis

    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
    Read More
  • Decent Essays

    The Scarlet Ibis Research Paper
    • 228 Words
    • 1 Pages

    The Scarlet Ibis Research Paper

    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
    Read More
  • Decent Essays

    Foreshadowing In The Scarlet Ibis
    • 436 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Foreshadowing In The Scarlet Ibis

    ¨The Scarlet Ibis¨ is a short story by James Hurst. This short story is about a young boy who has a brother named Doodle. Doodle is not like other kids his age, he has health problems. This story talks about the narrator and Doodle’s relationship throughout Doodle’s life. The author uses foreshadowing and symbolism to reveal Doodle’s sensitivity and uniqueness.…

    • 436 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    The Narrator In The Scarlet Ibis
    • 1332 Words
    • 6 Pages

    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.…

    • 1332 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Scarlet Ibis Pride Quotes
    • 753 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Scarlet Ibis Pride Quotes

    Written by James Hurst, the story takes place in the south during 1911. The narrator who is only given the name “Brother”, is introduced along with his disabled brother Doodle. Because of his disability, Doodle needs attentive care and is unable to walk. Doodle’s older brother is soon determined to see and help his little brother…

    • 753 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Decent Essays

    The Scarlet Ibis Theme Analysis
    • 501 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Scarlet Ibis Theme Analysis

    The short story “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst portrays the theme that you shouldn’t let your pride and cruelty deprive you of your judgement. This short story begins by telling us about where the narrator lives, but as he continues he takes us through his memory and into a time when he had a brand new baby brother named William Armstrong. The narrator’s baby brother eventually learned how to crawl, but he crawled backwards, and as he got older he showed no signs of walking, until, when he was 5 years old, he took the couple steps to the kitchen table and sat down at his seat. Eventually, when a major storm comes through, both the narrator and doodle(the baby brother) try to get home, but instead of walking at a decent pace with doodle the…

    • 501 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
    Read More
  • Decent Essays

    The Scarlet Ibis Symbolism Essay
    • 593 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Scarlet Ibis Symbolism Essay

    In James Hurst’s, “The Scarlet Ibis”, the narrator uses the motif of red to describe the death of Doodle. Color red associates with blood which everyone would think of “Bleeding tree” is frequently appearing in this story, and this symbolizes Doodle’s death which is “A grind stone stands where the bleeding tree stood…”(89). The bleeding tree is just like the scene where Doodle dies, but the readers would not know that Doodle would die eventually and bleeding tree is illustrating Doodle but the readers would not understand how bleeding free associates with Doodle until they read the story till the end. This is how the author makes the reader to be suspicious and think about the word choice. Also, the bleeding tree is standing next to a grindstone.…

    • 593 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    Uniformity In The Scarlet Ibis
    • 1540 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Uniformity In The Scarlet Ibis

    Some believe that it is repugnant to be unique–that it is necessary to conform to the ideals and values of society in order to be accepted as normal. In James Hurst’s short story, The Scarlet Ibis, Doodle’s older brother, known as the mononym “Brother” throughout, can be considered someone of such character, a child that couldn’t accept or respect his younger sibling’s idiosyncrasies. He pushed Doodle, a physically-disabled child, to his absolute limits, whether it be walking, running, swimming, and even rowing, Brother believed that his work on his younger sibling would be infallible and for Doodle’s good, but when looking at the text, it can be seen that Brother’s selfishness in attempting to morph Doodle into the idyllic person ultimately…

    • 1540 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    The Scarlet Ibis Literary Analysis
    • 455 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Scarlet Ibis Literary Analysis

    The Killers Pride In “The Scarlet Ibis” James Hurst indirectly characterizes the narrator as prideful through the way he treats his brother to communicate that excess pride creates selfishness that rips siblings apart. The narrator is a young boy that was given a bother that was unable to walk or even stand, when he was born they thought he would not live very long. The older boy forcefully taught his brother [Doodle] how to walk because he was displeased with Doodle being disabled. After the narrator was commended for his seemingly selfless actions he admitted to himself that, “pride whose slave [he] was, spoke to me louder than all their voices, and that Doodle walked only because I was ashamed of having a crippled brother” (8).…

    • 455 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    The Scarlet Ibis Argumentative Essay
    • 540 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The Scarlet Ibis Argumentative Essay

    The Scarlet Ibis Argument Essay Some people are selfish in such a way that they only affect themselves, but others’ selfishness can hurt those they care about. In the story, The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst, brother was one whose selfishness not only affected him, but everyone surrounding him, especially his brother, Doodle. Doodle was not like most kids, he had physical disabilities that were not hard to miss if one was looking at him. Brother didn’t want Doodle to be different, he wanted him to be a normal boy who ran, played sports and everything that he was not.…

    • 540 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    The Scarlet Ibis Quotes On Doodle's Death
    • 820 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Scarlet Ibis Quotes On Doodle's Death

    In The Scarlet Ibis by James hurst, shows how the narrator's irresponsible actions have a harmful impact on Doodle. Responsibility is a big a thing and obviously the narrator does not have this aspect of life, clearly, this is why Doodle’s brother is the cause of Doodles…

    • 820 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More

Related Topics

Ready To Get Started?
Discover
Company
Follow
©2024 Cram.com
Privacy Policy |  About Ads |  Site Map |  Advertise  | 
  • Cookie Settings