The Scarlet Ibis

420 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Scarlet ibis literary analysis

James Hurst's short story, "The Scarlet Ibis" reveals that the brotherly bond between the narrator and Doodle is an essential component in the story. If Doodle was a girl, the brotherly connection and bond would be lost, resulting in many variations throughout the story. If Doodle was a girl the narrator probably wouldn't spend as much time with Doodle. A brother-brother relationship is very different than a brother-sister relationship. Doodle would likely be closer to another female such as her mother. Young girls tend to spend more time indoors with their mothers learning to sew, playing with dolls and other girl things. Its not that a brother-sister relationship is non-existent, but its a lot different. With Doodle spending more time inside, "she" wouldn't ever experience summers down by the swamp learning to run, box and climb trees. All of those things are things that little boys do. 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. Younger children often play with other kids of the same gender and thinks the opposite sex has "kuddies." The two children would be at a vulnerable age to risk a close relationship. Close brother and sister relationships don't usually evolve until the mid teenage years. For example I have two older sisters that I am very close with now, but when I was young I didn't want anything to with them. So I began to develop a close relationship with my dad at a young age. That is why I believe that if Doodle was a girl, she would have been connected closer with her mother because of the gender relation. Not as much is expected physically from a girl, therefore I believe Doodle would be handicapped the rest of "her" life.

Show More
Related

  • The Scarlet Ibis Pride Analysis

    326 Words  | 1 Pages

    Author James Hurst once quoted, “I did not know then that pride is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines, life and death.” Why does life end out the way it does when pride infects it with its poison? In “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, pride proves to be more wonderful than terrible for the characters.

    Read More

  • Pride In 'The Scarlet Ibis' By James Hurst

    835 Words  | 2 Pages

    No matter how malicious he is, like all siblings, he has some love for his brother. The narrator showed Doodle Old Woman Swamp

    Read More

  • Doodle In The Scarlet Ibis

    539 Words  | 2 Pages

    (pg. 6. Showing the consistent motif throughout the story was the reason behind Brother’s actions – his pride and his need for his younger brother to fit society’s expectations. In The Scarlet Ibis, Brothers thoughts often revolve around one major objective: to make Doodle normal. As Brother narrates the story he recalls himself repeatedly pushing Doodle away from his comfort zone because Brother had wanted to make sure that Doodle would be seen as normal. When Brother convinced Doodle that learning how to walk was important, Doodle and he would frequently go to practice.

    Read More

  • The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst

    704 Words  | 2 Pages

    Dante Alighieri once said, "Avarice, envy, pride, three fatal sparks, have set the hearts of all on Fire." In the short story "The Scarlet Ibis" by James Hurst, it shows how pride can be beneficial in some ways, and harmful in other ways. The story starts out as the narrator of the story has a recollection of his past when his younger brother Doodle was still alive. The narrator tells how everyone believed Doodle is crippled mentally and physically. However, Doodle is a normal human being mentally, but has some difficulties physically. The narrator wants Doodle to become a "normal" boy, so he teaches him to practically all the activities any boy Doodle's age would do. One day, Doodle and the narrator were playing in the fields. A large storm came and both had to run home before it became too hard to handle. Doodle started running after his brother, but couldn't withstand it, and eventually, his stamina died down and had to rest. The narrator felt ticked off by Doodle and deserted him. A few minutes later, the narrator discovered Doodle under a tree, blood trickling from his mouth, dead. In the short story "The Scarlet Ibis" by James Hurst, it shows how pride can be beneficial in some ways, and harmful in other ways.

    Read More

  • Doodles Determination (Scarlet Ibis)

    360 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the short story “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, Doodle is an ‘ugly duckling’

    Read More

  • The Scarlet Ibis Literary Analysis

    379 Words  | 1 Pages

    In “The Scarlet Ibis,” Hurst demonstrates that expecting too much of others will push them past their breaking point through the use of characterizing the narrator as conceited and self-centered through his forceful actions, mainly due to pride, towards his brother Doodle. Throughout the story, the narrator manages to push his brother to his limit by continuously forcing him to take part in activities beyond his athletic abilities, which eventually leads to his downfall. After the narrator’s attempt to run a development program for Doodle,

    Read More

  • How Does Brother Is Responsible For His Death

    827 Words  | 2 Pages

    “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

    Read More

  • The Scarlet Ibis Character Analysis

    824 Words  | 2 Pages

    Humans are never perfect, and their emotions often conflict with their logic. In “The Scarlet Ibis”, the narrator receives a physically disabled brother, Doodle, thus trains Doodle physically so that he could live a normal life. Throughout the story, the narrator’s actions and thoughts reveals his true personalities to the audience as he slowly narrates the story of himself and his scarlet ibis, Doodle, whose existence he dreaded. In the story written by James Hurst, pride, love, and cruelty, these conflicting character traits all exists in Doodle’s brother. And the most severe of all, pride.

    Read More

  • Conflict In The Scarlet Ibis, The Most Dangerous Game

    596 Words  | 2 Pages

    What is a conflict? A conflict is a struggle between opposing forces. In the world today there are many conflicts. Students had to read stories and all had conflicts in them. They read the Necklace, The Scarlet Ibis, The Most Dangerous Game, and many more. Three characters who had to face conflicts are Mathilde, Doodle, and Rainsford.

    Read More

  • Sex Lies And Conversation Summary

    1034 Words  | 3 Pages

    According to Tannen, differences in childhood can impact individual’s communication with each other in relationships. At a young age, children tend to play with other children who are the same gender as them. Both groups of genders have different ways of building a friendship. Tannen says that “Little girls create and maintain friendships by exchanging secrets” (276). It is important for girls to share secrets to get closer to one another and to have a mutual understanding unlike boys whose bonds are “based

    Read More

  • James Hurst's The Scarlet Ibis

    497 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Compare and Contrast Two Theories of Gender Role Development

    1366 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the stage of gender stability children are able to indicate that a gender remains the same throughout time and therefore, children start to realise that they will be male or female for the rest of their lives. Nevertheless, their understanding of gender i...

    Read More

  • Thesis For The Scarlet Ibis

    632 Words  | 2 Pages

    (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)

    Read More

  • Why the Brother in The Scarlet Ibis is Selfish

    387 Words  | 1 Pages

    Brother is too engulfed in his selfish desire for a ‘better’ brother that he does not give Doodle a chance to rest. “I made him swim until he turned blue, and row until he couldn’t lift an oar.” This excerpt shows the reader how ruthless Brother is in the training he has set up for Doodle. Brother appears to care more about him being capable of doing these ‘fun’ things than his brother having fun doing them does. “Success lay at the end of the summer like a pot of gold” When Brother says this, he relays how he is greedy for a better brother and will do anything to get what he wants.

    Read More

More about The Scarlet Ibis

Open Document