Analytical Essay: The Character Brother From The Scarlet Ibis

The character Brother from the "Scarlet Ibis" is a very controlled person. Love, family, nature, and intelligences pushes him to keep moving forward, but he is also pushed by some difficult things such as shame, guilt, and insecurities. Most of this story's focus is Doodles life, from birth to death. When reading the story, the reader may notice all the things Brother did wrong rather than what he did right. Additionally, when you're finished reading the story, Brother probably left a negative impact on you because as a narrator he highlighted all the things he did wrong. It's hard to really judge brother as a character from different perspectives because he only chooses to bring out one side which is only in terms of his connections and relationship with doodle. Brother "wanted more than anything else someone to race to Horsehead landing, someone to box with, … [he] wanted a brother" (430). Once Doodle was born it started to become clear that he was only capable of laying on the floor and crawling backwards. Brother said, "It was bad enough having an invalid brother, but having one who possibly was not all

This makes me think that Brother is doing part of his work for Doodle, but it's hard to tell. Another quote that shows his loving side toward Doodle is "finally, one day, after many weeks of practicing, he stood alone for a few seconds. When he fell, I grabbed him in my arms and hugged him, our laughter pealing through the swamp like a ringing bell" (433). The attitude in this quote from brother is much better than how he is been acting for most of the story. It is kind of hard to tell why Brother's so happy in this quote because he could be happy out of his guilt or embarrassment or he could be happy that Doodle can actually