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). In this …show more content…
He felt like he had no choice but to thinking that Doodle was a mistake and that his own image would suffer because of him. The narrator’s dignity would inevitably push Doodle into this grave. When the author uses “spoke to me louder than their voices” the protagonist is battling the thought of being selfish and only helping Doodle because of the burden he was. From this fragment of text one can assume that pride and selfishness dictate the boys thoughts, but also he knows his pride is hurting Doodle, but not how much. Teaching Doodle how to walk was not an easy task, But after he did succeed he acknowledges that “[he] did not know then that pride is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines, life and death”(8). When the author uses “wonderful, terrible” one can assume that the narrator knows that his pride can befit him, but in excess can become harmful by turning selfishness. The author specifically uses the word “seed” to symbolize that pride is something which you can plant within yourself and that can grow if you feed it. The whole phrase “a seed that bears two vines, life and death” represents the narrator and Doodles relationship. Their relationship is portrayed by the delicate
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). In this …show more content…
He felt like he had no choice but to thinking that Doodle was a mistake and that his own image would suffer because of him. The narrator’s dignity would inevitably push Doodle into this grave. When the author uses “spoke to me louder than their voices” the protagonist is battling the thought of being selfish and only helping Doodle because of the burden he was. From this fragment of text one can assume that pride and selfishness dictate the boys thoughts, but also he knows his pride is hurting Doodle, but not how much. Teaching Doodle how to walk was not an easy task, But after he did succeed he acknowledges that “[he] did not know then that pride is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines, life and death”(8). When the author uses “wonderful, terrible” one can assume that the narrator knows that his pride can befit him, but in excess can become harmful by turning selfishness. The author specifically uses the word “seed” to symbolize that pride is something which you can plant within yourself and that can grow if you feed it. The whole phrase “a seed that bears two vines, life and death” represents the narrator and Doodles relationship. Their relationship is portrayed by the delicate