Tilak Misner
Vuong
Period 5
9/26/14
Scarlet Ibis Rough Draft In his short story “The Scarlet Ibis,” James Hurst shows that an overdose of pride can blind us from the way we should treat the ones we love the most. In the beginning of the story, Doodle is born with a disability, much to the disappointment of his brother. Doodle’s brother is so upset and aggravated by this, to the point where he thinks, “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” (1). Instead of looking forward to the companionship that a sibling provides, the brother immediately judges and deprecates him. Additionally, the brother acts as if …show more content…
In the beginning of the story, Doodle is born with a disability, much to the disappointment of his brother. Doodle’s brother is so upset and aggravated by this, to the point where he thinks, “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” (1). Instead of looking forward to the companionship that a sibling provides, the brother immediately judges and deprecates him. Additionally, the brother acts as if having a brother is a calamity and punishment, claiming that it is ‘unbearable.’ The connotation of this word suggests that Doodle is insufferable and intolerable, rather than the reality where Doodle has done nothing wrong except for being disabled, which is out of his control. His feelings are so extreme and exaggerated that he makes plans to murder Doodle. The brother makes plans to murder someone who he has barely met, based solely upon the fact that Doodle is disabled and not the idealistic brother he had imagined and wanted. This stems completely from the brother’s pride- that he cannot have a brother who has a disability and may make him look bad. As the story continues, the brother teaches Doodle how to walk, a feat thought unconquerable due to his disability. However, when Doodle walks in front of all the family members and credits= his brother for teaching him, he [the brother] cries, as “They did not know that I did it for myself, that pride, whose slave I was, spoke to me louder than all their voices, and that Doodle walked only because I was ashamed of having a crippled brother” (3).This illustrates how the brother disguised his true motives of making Doodle seem less disabled through being falsely helpful and supportive. Again, he refuses to accept his brother as an equal, and
Vuong
Period 5
9/26/14
Scarlet Ibis Rough Draft In his short story “The Scarlet Ibis,” James Hurst shows that an overdose of pride can blind us from the way we should treat the ones we love the most. In the beginning of the story, Doodle is born with a disability, much to the disappointment of his brother. Doodle’s brother is so upset and aggravated by this, to the point where he thinks, “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” (1). Instead of looking forward to the companionship that a sibling provides, the brother immediately judges and deprecates him. Additionally, the brother acts as if …show more content…
In the beginning of the story, Doodle is born with a disability, much to the disappointment of his brother. Doodle’s brother is so upset and aggravated by this, to the point where he thinks, “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” (1). Instead of looking forward to the companionship that a sibling provides, the brother immediately judges and deprecates him. Additionally, the brother acts as if having a brother is a calamity and punishment, claiming that it is ‘unbearable.’ The connotation of this word suggests that Doodle is insufferable and intolerable, rather than the reality where Doodle has done nothing wrong except for being disabled, which is out of his control. His feelings are so extreme and exaggerated that he makes plans to murder Doodle. The brother makes plans to murder someone who he has barely met, based solely upon the fact that Doodle is disabled and not the idealistic brother he had imagined and wanted. This stems completely from the brother’s pride- that he cannot have a brother who has a disability and may make him look bad. As the story continues, the brother teaches Doodle how to walk, a feat thought unconquerable due to his disability. However, when Doodle walks in front of all the family members and credits= his brother for teaching him, he [the brother] cries, as “They did not know that I did it for myself, that pride, whose slave I was, spoke to me louder than all their voices, and that Doodle walked only because I was ashamed of having a crippled brother” (3).This illustrates how the brother disguised his true motives of making Doodle seem less disabled through being falsely helpful and supportive. Again, he refuses to accept his brother as an equal, and