As I lay on my deathbed, I imagine that I will have my share of regrets. Many relationships and friendships have changed significantly throughout my life, and it seems the only consistency is inconsistency. Few of the friends I experienced my formative years alongside still occupy my current friend circle. I enjoyed the overall story and the characters appeared very realistic to me. I have experienced some dependent relationships, and I understand the motivation within the narrator for his selfish actions. I also know what it is like to experience the death of a close loved one, similar to the narrator. The tone and style of the story seem unique and weighed on my human emotions. Yes, I may have shed some tears during my first read of the ending. …show more content…
The somber tone within the story touches upon the larger issue of death. I think the true message within the sadness of the story is to always appreciate what you have before it’s too late. This message resonated with me because I have experienced unexpected loss, and I still retain some regrets and guilt about that situation. I especially enjoyed the imagery within the story. “The Scarlet Ibis” holds realistic themes, relatable characters, and an incredibly unique style. Each of these combine together to create an incredible short story which carries a lot of weight beyond the …show more content…
The narrator’s motivations are understandable. I see the reasoning to attempt to teach doodle how to be a normal child. From the beginning of the story, everyone believes that Doodle won’t be able to live at all, much less a normal life. I, personally, love a good underdog story and Doodle becomes the ultimate underdog to root for. I believe that, although the narrator had some selfish motivation, he also simply wishes for his brother to be normal and defy his apparent destiny. Aunt Nicey foreshadows the ending by stating that caul babies like Doodle can become a saint. Typically, saints don’t live long lives, but they are especially fulfilled and close to God. I believe that Doodle exhibits some saintly characteristics within the story. Even after his mother forbids him from going to help the ibis, Doodle still goes out to bury the bird. I feel as though this is an allusion to many of the stories within the bible; Jesus heals the leper, for example. The choice of the word saint brings about views of the bible in my eyes, so I believe that Doodle’s actions are definitely saintly. The narrator also mentions that “People in his (Doodle’s) stories all had wings and flew wherever they wanted to go.” I feel as though this alludes to angels which are also
He also exhibits kindness and love toward Doodle during parts of the story. For instance when Doodle’s brother tires of carrying Doodle in a go-cart, he decides to teach Doodle how to walk. Although Doodle fails numerous times, his brother keeps trying and and encourages him after a particularly disheartening fail when he says “Yes you can Doodle. All you gotta do is try. Now come on,” (Hurst 558). In this quote Doodle struggles to walk by himself. However, his determined brother stays with him the entire time and encourages Doodle to make sure he never gives up and can learn how to walk by himself. The evidence shows that Doodle’s brother does care for Doodle and that he is not always mean and cruel. The quote exemplifies Doodle’s brother’s ambivalent attitude toward his brother. The author is trying to show that Doodle’s brother grows fonder of Doodle with each passing day. Doodle’s brother’s growing love for Doodle becomes more evident as the story progresses. After Doodle learns to walk well, he and his brother, “roamed off together, resting often, we never turned back until our destination had been reached” (Hurst 559). This quote shows that Doodle’s brother grows fonder of Doodle and the two become inseparable. They go everywhere together and Doodle’s brother takes care of Doodle when they go on their journey. Hence, Doodle’s brother becomes a kind, loving brother who takes care of Doodle and tries to make Doodle have a happy life.
Pride of the narrator teaches a physically deprived little boy Doodle how to walk and gives him the same amenities as every other normal child. The pride of the narrator, "I [he] am going to teach Doodle how to walk" (170). Pride, in this instance, gives the narrator enough courage and vigor to help another human being in a positive way. The world needs more people such as the narrator, who is willing to benefit other's lives in a tenderhearted way, to make another's life better and happier. For example, "It's so pretty, so pretty, pretty, pretty" (170). One's pride can truly take the simple pleasures in life and make someone happy. The narrator does a simple task by taking his brother down to the swamp. By that action, Doodle is enthralled in happiness because he sees something he has never seen before. Having pride can be beneficial in many ways; however, having too much pride can be pernicious.
Doodle was known to be fragile and had many problems in the beginning of the story. He was born with a large head and small body. His head was red and Doodle’s brother was worried because he wanted to have a normal brother. In the story it says, “Everybody thought he was going to die, everybody except aunt Nicey, who had delivered him” (Hurst 462). They had even went to the extent to build him a coffin. Doodle was highly doubted and this leads part of me to think that this is the main reason he had tried so hard, besides the
I think my favorite thing about this novel was the realistic ending. Some books try to just give you a fairy tale but this book had an ending that mad you think in the end if I was in the same position would I do the same thing. I didn’t like the fact that the novel portrayed mental illness in a way to say that it needed to be hidden and protected. I thought this novel was very believable for the time period that it was set in. I think the ending to this novel was perfect it was an accurate ending to this
Symbolism is used in many stories for authors to help convey a message for reader and for the story to have more value after it is read. The story “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst is a story filled with symbolism, and one symbol is where the two main characters went every day in the summer: Doodle and Brother. Another symbol used by James Hurst is the wagon. The story is about a relationship of two brothers with one being disabled causing him to be much weaker and not being able to do things such as swim, run, and go to school. The character, named Doodle,could not even stand up until his brother who is unnamed, help him learn after a lot of practice. The theme of the story would be to not be too prideful of yourself or someone else. James Hurst uses the swamp and the wagon as symbols to convey more meaning to the story.
“-, I lay there crying, sheltering my fallen scarlet ibis from the heresy of rain.” This quote shows that the author began to appreciate his brother too late. Throughout the story, it's noticeable that the author overlooks Doodle’s disability, which he admits he was ashamed of and it is this shame that leads to him pushing his brother too far. For, on the day of Doodle’s death he had done many strenuous things and even told his brother, he was feeling tired. The author, ignoring his brother’s pleas and then purposely leaving him behind, is what lead to his death. In The Scarlet Ibis, Doodle is symbolized by the bird in many ways, such as them both having a disability, dying alone, and their deaths being caused by overexertion.
Blood is thicker than water, but sometimes pride is thicker than both. Such is the case with James Hurst's "The Scarlet Ibis." This is a dramatic short story about two brothers, in which the older brother manipulates and is later responsible for the death of his younger brother, Doodle. These actions proved that he did not love Doodle.
The act of dying is quite simplistic, whereas the concept of death is overly complex. For this reason, it is a common theme for novels and articles to include. Death is not only inevitable, but it is also relatable. Almost everyone will experience the death of another person, pet or plant. So, incorporating some variation of that within a text will instantly give a connection to its readers. Of course, the perused death may be sorrowful, but it is often the emotions and reactions from spectator that intrigue readers. This is because it is typically the characters who have witnessed a death that advance a story’s plot. However, the prime exception to this is when there is a death from within a character—when a piece of someone’s identity dies. Incidentally, George Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eight-Four exhibits both of these
Doodle was like a shooting star in the night sky. He was rare and special. Doodle was a unique person that was different and didn’t fit in. Doodle was born sick and no one thought he would live, but he did end up living and his brother spent much of his time helping Doodle become stronger and learn to walk. Over time in the story Doodle got stronger, but in the end he eventually died. In “The Scarlet Ibis” James Hurst uses creative symbols such as the color red, the scarlet ibis bird, and the seasons to represent the life of Doodle.
. This story embodies how the author saw her experiences that she had lived through.
It's about sunlight. It's about the special way that dawn spreads out on a river when you know you must cross the river and march into the mountains and do things you are afraid to do. It's about love and memory. It's about sorrow. It's about sisters who never write back and people who never listen.” -pg. 85
The idea behind this short story is not the fact that everyone dies, but the eventful memories that can make the life worthwhile. The author says, “So much for endings. Beginnings are always more fun! True connoisseurs, however, are known to favor the stretch in between, since it’s the hardest to do anything with. That’s about all that can be said for plots, which anyway are just one thing after another, a what and a what and a what.
“Death is the debt every man must pay”, wrote Euripides. Each day we are reminded about death; a report on the television about starving children in Africa or a suicide bomber in the Middle East. Headline in the newspaper about a murder, suicide or “honor killings”; News of an untimely death from a loved one, friend, co-worker. It seems that death is everywhere. Until this essay was assigned I had never really thought about how death had affected me, or how close I was to that deceased person who had died so suddenly, sometimes without even saying goodbye. Now thinking about it I have actually been around death quite a bit in my short life so far; a long with that I have sat through many sad funerals. How close I was to that person is a whole other story though. Even when it comes to my own family I wasn’t always that close to them when they passed on because they lived in another state, or my parents weren’t very close to them so I wasn’t really ever around them enough to know them or develop an attachment.
In “The Scarlet Ibis,” written by James Hurst, Doodle, a boy born with health problems, experiences cruel actions from his older brother who wishes Doodle would have been born as normal as possible with no health conditions. As Doodle grows his older brother tries to teach him to be as normal as Doodle portrays to be capable to be, such as teaching him to walk, although this affects Doodle’s health severely, which eventually leads to his early death. The narrator in “The Scarlet Ibis” causes Doodle’s death by leaving Doodle in the rain, teaching him things that affects his health, and creating a sense of curiosity.
how Doodle loved his brother, and that he did not want to be separated from him.