I believe that the narrator is responsible for Doodle’s death, but Doodle is also guilty of his own death too. I believe that the narrator is responsible for Doodle’s death because he taught his brother to walk. This may have been a benevolent matter to do at the time, but it played a big role in doodles death. He did not directly cause the death, but it was indirectly caused by the course of events that followed it. Doodle could have prevented his own death. Doodle is responsible for his death, but not as much as his brother. Doodle over exerted himself before his death. If Doodle had said no to his brother, his death could have been prevented. Lastly, the narrator is guilty of leaving Doodle behind in a rainstorm while he was tired and scared. …show more content…
One might think that when Doodle was five his brother teaching him to walk was a fair surprise. Doodle’s brother saw it this way, and I see it this way as well. The narrator was not trying to kill his brother by teaching him to walk, but this is what caused Doodle’s death. Doodle’s brother was well aware of Doodle’s preexisting heart condition. The doctor said that using his legs too much would cause him to overexert his heart, and in doodles death, walking was the main reason he died. While teaching Doodle to walk, Doodle’s brother was often careless. For example, when the narrator taught Doodle to walk, Doodle would often fall to the ground and land on his chest. The ground was swampy and covered in twigs and rocks as well. Doodle was using a part of his body that he had never used before. Although teaching someone to be independent is a kind act, in Doodle’s case, how he taught him was not the safest. Doodle’s brother was well aware of Doodle’s heart condition as I said earlier. Even though Doodle’s brother knew this information, and after the doctor said that physical exercise was not an approved option, Doodle’s brother still taught Doodle to walk. That is why I believe that Doodle’s brother is guilty of teaching Doodle to walk, when he should have never done …show more content…
Doodle’s brother left him lying in the road scared and afraid. Running down the road Doodle fell because of a tree being blown to bits in front of him. Doodle’s brother hadn’t run far when he got tired and stopped and waited for him. Doodle’s brother ran away from Doodle when he fell, and left his brother to catch up. Doodle was over exerted by then and could not make it to the narrator. Doodle’s brother ran as fast as he could and left a big wall of rain between them. The narrator left his brother out of earshot and did not check on him for a long time. As he waited for Doodle, Doodle was dying under a tree at the side of the road. If Doodle’s brother had not pushed doodle so hard doodle could be alive. This is still no way to treat any six year old. Making a six year old row up a river in a boat with not only his and the boat's weight, but also a person that was double his age. By the time the narrator found Doodle, Doodle was covered in a cruel layer of red blood. Doodles face was colorless except for the damp red blood on his curvy chin. Doodle’s brother went over to him and said let’s go. When doodle did not respond, he lifted his dead brothers head to reveal the blank expression upon his empty
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.
It was a village on a hill, all joyous and fun where there was a meadow full of blossomed flowers. The folks there walked with humble smiles and greeted everyone they passed. The smell of baked bread and ginger took over the market. At the playing grounds the children ran around, flipped and did tricks. Mama would sing and Alice would hum. Papa went to work but was always home just in time to grab John for dinner. But Alice’s friend by the port soon fell ill, almost like weeds of a garden that takes over, all around her went unwell. Grave yards soon became over populated and overwhelmed with corpse.
In “The Scarlet Ibis," Doodle had the same right to live as his family did. I believe that even though Doodle was destined to die” he should have been able to live the short life he had.
The author reveals the intense situation which Dooley is involved and a disorderly teenager’s life and thought by good setting. The author starts the suspense by emphasizing that the accidents are not simply suicides, but the victims are killed by someone. In the novel, the sister of the first victim, Beth says “You’re saying that someone else could have seen him fall and could have got to him before you did and that person could have seen him lying there either dead or dying and, instead of doing anything to help him, that perso...
Ever since the beginning of Doodle's existence Brother planned to kill him. The story proves this when Brother says "I began to make plans to kill him by smothering him with a pillow". Brother felt embarrassment toward Doodle because he didn't like the idea of having an invalid brother that could never play with him and do activities that other children his age would do for fun. When Brother had the chance to leave Doodle behind he did it because his cruelty against Doodle began to rise and he didn't want to see Doodle in that
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
Taking the small details into consideration such as the mention of President Wilson and World War I battle sites, it can be concluded that The Scarlet Ibis was set in the early 20th century. The context of the situation, the early 20th century – with its lack of proper medical care and short lifespan of disabled individuals – also influenced Brother’s perception. As a result of the collective knowledge shared by people then and his physical condition, Doodle’s father had expected for him to die in a short period of time and made the decision to arrange a coffin for him. “They did not know that I did it for myself.”
“The knowledge that Doodle’s” and the narrator’s “plans had come to naught was bitter” and causes a sudden “streak of cruelty [to awaken]” within the narrator. The narrator runs away from his brother leaving a “wall of rain dividing” them. [17]
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
Through the use of the character vs. self conflict of the narrator being ashamed of his little brother’s disabilities and the symbolism of Doodle’s death through the scarlet ibis, James Hurst conveys the theme that pride should not grow so great to the point that if hurts others in his short story “The Scarlet Ibis”. For instance, the story revolves around two brothers, the narrator and Doodle; Doodle is a boy who was born with a heart condition that causes him to be paraplegic. However, the narrator is embarrassed by his unfortunate brother, so he took Doodle’s health into his control; the narrator attempts to make Doodle be able to be physically active, for he teaches him how to walk and is successful. This success caused the narrator to push Doodle even harder than he was before as it is revealed, “Once I [the narrator] had succeeded in teaching Doodle to walk, I began to believe in my own infallibility, and I prepared a terrific development
First, Johnny and Dally both die tragically after making unwise decisions in their lives. Johnny died while rescuing children from a burning church and in the eyes of the rescued children’s parents was a hero. But reluctantly this was not the case. In fact, Johnny had just killed a rival member from the Soc’s in self-defense. After which Johnny tells Ponyboy “‘I killed him,’ he said slowly. ‘I killed that boy.’ As Bob, the handsome Soc was lying there in the moonlight a dark pool growing
Instead of accepting Doodle for who he was, the brother was selfish and prideful, and he decided to try to push Doodle to get better so that the brother would not be so embarrassed. His first step was to get Doodle to walk, and even though Doodle didn’t want to do it, the brother kept on trying over and over again until he finally got it. When he was pushing Doodle to get better, he wasn't really doing it for Doodle, and the brother was just doing it so that he, himself would not be embarrassed. When the brother finally taught Doodle how to walk, he began to go under the assumption that Doodle could never fail, and this pride eventually led to the death of his brother. The brother’s training sessions with Doodle became more and more frequent and vigorous as the beginning of school became sooner, and the brother was blinded by his own pride on when to stop. Even when the brother knew that it was time to give up, he said that, “I should have already admitted
Although the narrator of the story contributes to Doodle's death, the narrator actually enhanced Doodle's short life helping him live more than he helps him die. Additionally the narrator always knows that Doodle can act more like a normal boy, than as a sick person that was about to die. In "Scarlet Ibis" the narrator is not responsible for Doodles death.
Doodle’s health is not good and you can see that in this piece of text. (Topic Sentence) The author writes, “He didn’t answer so I placed my hand on his forehead and lifted his head. Limply, he fell backwards onto the Earth. He had been bleeding from his mouth, and his neck and the front of his shirt was stained brilliant red.”(172)(Textual support- 5). Doodle is harmed and it’s because his brother’s pride got in the way of his health and well being. (Commentary)
...verything” (Hurst 1). The brother only cared about himself and having fun, and did not think about the affect his actions had on Doodle. The brother decides to “teach him [Doodle] to run, to swim, to climb trees, and to fight” (Hurst 3). Readers can begin to infer that the brother’s careless actions will later lead to serious injury or the death of Doodle.