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Now and then character analysis
Now and then character analysis
Now and then character analysis
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Have you ever thought about murdering one of your siblings, or close family members? Brother took it all the way in “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst. Doodle, Brother’s younger sibling, was expected to die since birth; he was a premature child. The family didn’t name him for three months because they were afraid that he was going to die any second. Doodle learned how to talk way before he could walk, forcing the narrator to pull him around in a gocart everywhere he went. Brother became embarrassed of Doodle and taught him to walk. Doodle dies at age six, and Brother is responsible for his death. The narrator is responsible, because he knew about Doodle’s undeveloped organs, and over-worked him. Brother’s only motivation to teach Doodle to run, swim, climb and walk was the fact that he was embarrassed to have a crippled sibling. Finally, he was aware that Doodle was afraid of being alone and left him to die. The first reason Brother is responsible for Doodle’s death is, the fact that the narrator knew about his heart condition, and put too much strain on his body. Brother was fully aware that Doodle wasn’t capable of doing all of the things all of the other children …show more content…
“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.” (Hurst 50). This supports the claim that this is Brother’s fault, because if he were never ashamed of Doodle in the first place, he wouldn’t be given all of the extra stress running has brought his body. The narrator was very strict, and hard on Doodle because he wanted a brother that was “all there.” Brother would have been much nicer, and understanding if his decision to teach Doodle to do things like the other children was based on
In the story “The scarlet Ibis” A kid and his little brother,Doodle could walk,but not run but for his brother who was perfectly fine, had pushed him to walk,run,swim,and to do things like an ordinary child. Because his little brother who couldn’t do any of those things, he tried to help his brother because he didn’t like having a brother who couldn’t walk,so he forced his brother to try and to do things that he has never,done or never did.Doodle was not excited that he couldn’t walk because he wasn’t trying hard enough and died all because of his brother.
The novel “My Brother Sam is Dead” is a story told through a boy named Tim meeker and how he admires his brother Sam meeker. But throughout the story Sam and his father argue about how they feel about each other’s differences and about separating from England. Meanwhile Tim finds himself very confused as to which side he should part take into. The story takes place in the 1700’s during the revolutionary war. Tim and his family go through many hardships in this novel.
In conclusion, the narrator went through the pride cycle before realizing that he loved Doodle for who he was and not for what he couldn’t do. In the end, the narrator was too late and he had gone past Doodle’s barriers and limits. This caused Doodle’s body to be worked too hard thus causing Doodle to
When Doodle was born, the narrator "...wanted more than anything else someone to race to Horsehead Landing, someone to box with, and someone to perch within the top fork of the great pine behind the barn..."(595). Upon discovering Doodle was not only crippled but also not "'all there'", the narrator selfishly decides to kill his little brother by suffocation. His plan was halted when he watched his brother grinned right at him. Though the narrator didn't kill Doodle, the narrator treated his little brother with cruelty to advance his own desires. Two instances are the reason Doodle walked and Doodle's training in his brother's program. Firstly, the reason that the narrator is determined to teach Doodle to walk was not solely out of kindness. "When Doodle was five years old, I was embarrassed at having a brother of that age who couldn't walk, so I set out to teach him"(597). The narrator is embarrassed that he has a brother that's physically unable to meet the narrator's expectations as what his brother should be. Yet, the narrator successfully taught Doodle how to walk, but in doing so, the narrator gained a false sense of infallibility that's equal only to his pride. The narrator thus created "...a terrific development program for him, unknown to mama and daddy, of course” (599). Several obstacles impeded the progress of the program, resulting in the brothers to double their efforts. The narrator made Doodle"...swim until he turned blue and row until he couldn't lift an oar. Wherever we went, I purposely walked fast, and although he kept up, his face turned red and his eyes became glazed. Once he could go no further, so he collapsed on the ground and began to cry"(601). Blinded by his desire to satisfy his pride, he became ignorant of the fact that as a sick child Doodle is unable to overexert himself, but the
Although Brother had told Doodle multiple times that walking was an important task that he must learn how to do for himself, the underlying reason why he pressured Doodle to integrate into the norm was that he wouldn’t have to deal with the embarrassment of having a crippled brother.
In the story, the narrator's pride sometimes takes him over and eventually kills his brother Doodle. At the end of the story, the narrator " as I [He] lay sheltering my fallen scarlet ibis from the heresy of rain" (176).
of a little boy and an invalid. Despised by, and an embarassment to his older brother,
In order to represent that the narrator's pride caused him to act with ill manners towards Doddle, Hurst creates the internal conflict which portrays the narrator’s struggle to choose what is more important, his pride or his brother. As the narrator confessed his past to the reader, he described a memory about how Doodle walked and he announced to the family that the narrator was the one who taught him. The narrator thus responds with: “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” (Hurst 419). It is important to note how the author compares the narrator to a “slave” of pride, the word slave connotes that the narrator is imprisoned by pride and creates the appearance that the force is inescapable. Throughout the story pride dictates the narrator, if
Selfishness can hurt those around you. That’s what happened to Brother. He made selfish choices and in the end it was him who lost his glory and his brother. Initially, Brother disliked Doodle and even thought about killing him. However brother sees Doodle smile and realizes that Doodle is “all there.” Brother tries to change Doodle for his own selfish ways. Consequently, Brother makes one last selfish choice and leaves Doodle behind as a storm rolls in. As a result of his selfish choice Doodle dies. Selfish choices affect the people in your life. In the Scarlet Ibis brother made many selfish choices which ended up killing Doodle. Because of brothers selfishness he destroyed what he built, so making selfish choices can affect people in your life in a negative way. So when thinking about making a selfish choice think about the people it will affect.
The two characters come to the realization that they do share a brotherly bond, and that the narrator cares deeply for his brother even after all the time apart. The narrator says, “I don’t give a damn wh...
Doodle's brother would only do this to have control on Doodle and Doodle's actions. This control, which Doodle's brother wanted, gave him enjoyment to boss around his brother, enjoyment to boss a crippled kid. And that Doodle walked only because his brother was ashamed of having a crippled brother. It was bad enough having an invalid b....
(Support) He states, “ When Doodle was five years old, I was embarrassed at having a brother of that age who couldn’t walk, so I set out to teach him.” (166)(Textual support- 2). This shows that brother didn’t want to teach Doodle how to walk to help him, but he wanted Doodle to walk so Doodle wouldn’t embarrass him. Brother is selfish and doesn’t care about Doodle, he cares more about himself and this is a character trait for Brother that runs throughout the entire story. (Commentary)
Brothers spend more time outside running, wrestling and playing sports. They enjoy doing things that take physical skill. Even if Doodle went outside, she probably wouldn't be interested in running through the forest and climbing trees. Chances are that she would be more into picking wildflowers and feeding the squirrels. There are rare occasions where you will find a real special brother-sister relationship, especially at the age Doodle and his brother were at.
In conclusion, co-dependency and rivalry is very common in the world today. Though it is not a big issue out in the open, it is an emotional attachment that only one can define. In this short story the two main aspects of having siblings is the theme which revolves around codependency and rivalry. Having siblings is a part of everyday life and problems do occur which sometimes makes a person, or changes a person in ways. In this situation, Pete and Donald are completely different people but they are in fact very dependent upon one another.
James Hurst is the author of the heart breaking short story entitled “The Scarlet Ibis”. “The Scarlet Ibis” is a short story about two brothers; one brother is healthy, while the other is physically handicapped. The short story is centered on the idea that the older, healthier brother’s selfishness and pride ultimately led to the death of his younger brother, Doodle. Numerous quotes throughout the story demonstrate Hurst’s use of symbolism and foreshadowing to portray and predict Doodle’s untimely and heartbreaking death.