Twisting Tale of Realistic Fiction

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Recommended: Thesis about the scarlet ibis by james hurst

Be very careful what you wish for because things are never as they seem, especially in the realistic fiction short story “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst. In the story the narrator is longing for a brother; but he is not expecting to get one quite like Doodle; and from the start he plans to help and hurt him. Brother is trying to help Doodle by teaching him to do things normal children can do, but hurts him because his pride and embarrassment and Doodle’s incapability get in the way. In this dramatic realistic fiction “Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, I realize Brother tries to help Doodle only to save himself from humiliation. As the story is progressing however, I notice the narrator is being nothing but evil to his brother by doing things such as: trying to hurt him in a go-cart and mocking and changing his name. It also registers to me that the red, dead peacock is a mysterious parallel and foreshadows to upcoming events in the short read.
In this twisting tale of unrealistic reality, we notice the narrator does not want to be with, near, or around his brother but his mother forces him to be. Although Doodle is finally capable of crawling, he still cannot walk, so “Daddy [is building] him a go-cart and I [have] to pull him around.” (Hurst 110) Brother states. When I hear the word “go-cart”, I think fun and excitement; but Brother sees it as a punishment and hates the idea. I see brother pulling around Doodle as a way for the two to bond as siblings; however the narrator wants nothing to do with Doodle except to hurt him. No matter where Brother is going, “Mother [calls] from wherever she [is] ‘Take Doodle with you.’ ’’ This gives Brother, in his mind, another reason to bring more havoc to Doodle. Continuously Brother takes...

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...his forehead and lifted his head… He had been bleeding from the mouth.” (Hurst 117).
Who is to blame for this? Is it Doodle, Brother, the parents? In this unpredictable short story I notice many things about the characters and myself. Life is something to be cherished not taken for granted and with Doodle’s terrible condition, that is exactly what those around him did: take him for granted. When and how will the parents discover the death? How will they feel? Who will they blame? Should they blame themselves for their child’s death? Will they blame Brother? Could this not have happened if Brother didn’t push so hard? Did Doodle have a choice or a life of his own? Did he enjoy the time he had? Could have been longer? These are all questions that come to mind when while reading this incredible short story, realistic fiction “Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst.

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    In the short story, “The Scarlet Ibis”, we know that the theme is, one day everything will end, so instead of wanting and wishing for more, appreciate what you have now. This is true because the quote, “I wanted more than anything else someone to race to Horsehead Landing, someone to box with,” displaying that Brother wanted a younger sibling, but soon realized that his sibling William Armstrong (Doodle) would not be able to play like other children. However, he had hope. “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. However, one afternoon as I watched him, my head poked between iron posts of the bed, he looked straight at me and grinned, I skipped through the rooms, echoing through the halls, shouting, ‘Mama, he smiled. He’s all there! He’s all there!’ and he was,” reveals that the narrator wished that Doodle wouldn’t be crazy, and that he hoped, deep down, Doodle would get better and be able to play with him. Once Doodle

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