Preview

Theme Of Pride In The Scarlet Ibis By James Hurst

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
268 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Theme Of Pride In The Scarlet Ibis By James Hurst
“The Scarlet Ibis,” written by James Hurst, is a short story full of symbolism. The theme I took from reading it is that having too much pride can blind one from seeing what is truly important. This is shown when the narrator, whose name is not disclosed, considers smothering his younger and disabled brother with a pillow. The narrator believes his brother, Doodle, to be a burden and disappointment due to his disabilities. To the narrator it was “bad enough having an invalid brother, but having one who possibly was not all there was unbearable.” (1). Also, the narrator decides to teach Doodle to walk, run, climb, and fight so that neither of them stands out at school. It is apparent that the narrator’s main reason and motivation to push Doodle

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    If the Scarlet Ibis, written by James Hurst was in Doodles perspective the story would be much different. One reason the story would be different is the way people think about the brother. The author says, “I’m going to teach you to walk”. In addition this causes the story to be different out of Doodles eyes because the brother is going to push Doodle hard just so he can walk. Because of this the brother looks more sympathetic than cruel.…

    • 264 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In life you must be able to learn from the mistakes that you are your fellow friends and family members make. “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst is a story about the narrator that is trying to teach his crippled brother Doodle how to walk and he has to learn from it. The narrator displayed selfish and cocky traits throughout the story.…

    • 449 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Death can usually be illustrated by the color red, hints the “Scarlet Ibis”. The “Scarlet Ibis” is based off of the cruel theme of death. Doodle dies in this reading, but before the story portrays his death, the piece gives many hints and clues that he is going to pass away soon. Hurst does a great job in the “Scarlet Ibis” of showing strength, the strength of doodle. Though Doodle overcame a lot of barriers, his strength could hold up no more at the end. He was a clear of the theme of this writing, the harsh, coldblooded theme of death.…

    • 398 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In James Hurst's “The Scarlet Ibis”, a tragic tale is told about the Narrator’s younger, disabled brother who he teaches to walk. The whole story has a sad nostalgic shadow cast across it due to many symbols, motifs, and foreshadowing. Doodle, the young boy was born in a cual and wasn’t thought to survive he looked very strange when he was born, “ He seemed all head with a tiny body, which was red and shriveled like an old man’s” The mention of red is throughout the story leading up to the appearance of the ibis, as the story continues on we see more possibilities of how Doodle is going to meet his end. Red and death are brought up in contrast to happy memories of Doodle, almost representing the ibis before it arrives. The ibis appears out…

    • 397 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The book opens with a parable regarding mountains. Eli makes it well known that they are heavily disabled alongside various other identities. Using disability to represent himself, the parable of the mountain describes social class and structure as being a daunting mountain. Those at the top scream down to find a way up but it is almost impossible. Although individuals may begin the journey to the submit it quickly gets lonely. The individual has the option to continue climbing or return to their group. Even then that doesn’t account for hazards and changes in the path to the metaphorical summit. This metaphor sets up the remainder of the book brilliantly. Exile and Pride, following the mountain metaphor, is divided into two primary sections; home and bodies.…

    • 1005 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The short story written by James Hurst “The Scarlet Ibis” explains that a selfish deed is not always bad. The story starts with the narrator, Brother, and his little brother Doodle. When Doodle was being born, he was red, and all shriveled up, a disappointment, and everyone thought he would die. When their mother always told Brother to take Doodle with him everywhere he went, Brother is embarrassed to be seen with his 5 year-old brother, who couldn’t walk, but had to be pulled everywhere in a mini go-cart. The narrator made it his mission to set out to teach Doodle to walk and everything else, so he wasn’t behind everyone in his grade. One day they went to Horsehead Landing, so narrator could teach Doodle how to swim but there came a lightning storm.…

    • 488 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    There is a saying that goes “you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone”. In “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, the narrator’s feelings towards his younger brother, Doodle, changes after Doodle’s death. The narrator, who we only know as Brother, treats Doodle with cruelty throughout their childhood because of Doodle’s physical disabilities. Brother, afraid that he will be taunted at school for having an impaired brother, starts training and teaching Doodle physical activities. The Brother’s feelings change from childhood hatred to regret as he reminisces about the events that caused his abhorrence to start.…

    • 456 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Scarlet Ibis is a story about two young boys, an older brother and a younger one with an unknown disease that enables him to live a normal life. The younger brother was said to be unable to walk, but with the help of his older brother, he did it. One would think that the brother helped Doodle with good intentions, but he didn't, he only helped him because he was embarrassed that Doodle had a handicap and he wanted a normal brother, he didn't help him because he loved him and wanted him to get better.…

    • 401 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    No one thought he would live but he did, no one thought he could walk but he did, and they were proud. In the story the scarlet ibis they were so proud of doodle being able to walk and happy, but when that pride was unfulfilled it became painful. Pride is neutral it can be good or bad depending on your situation. Being proud can make you happy and be a lot of fun. Because of his brothers pride doodle learned to walk. This event caused his family to be happy, and in turn made them proud of him. Doodle had just learned to walk and his family couldn’t be happier. Because of this doodle himself was happy. “ There wasn’t a sound as doodle walked slowly across the room and sat down at his place at the table. Then mama began…

    • 332 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In everyday life, we see many examples of the flaws of humans and narrators. For example, CNN and Fox News are both news channels who usually have the same stories that they report on. CNN could report on the story from a more Liberal standpoint but Fox News could report on the same story but from a more Conservative standpoint. Whose story would you trust? That is the main flaw about our society and about people in general, is that we lie or re-write a story to fit what we believe or what we want to hear, instead of telling the full truth. Sometimes, these traits are similar even in fictional stories, when they involve the narrator. Narrators expose flaws when they introduce themselves in their conversations and actions. In the short story…

    • 1156 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Scarlet Ibis

    • 367 Words
    • 2 Pages

    How would you feel if you were pushed beyond your limit? In this short story “The Scarlet Ibis.” Doodle is a character who is pushed beyond his limit by an unappreciative/selfish older brother. The three things I’ll summarize in this story are: Doodle being pushed too hard, the eldest brother secretly wanting to kill Doodle, and Lastly, How the brother tried to put Doodle in a special development program.…

    • 367 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the story “The Scarlet Ibis,” the character Doodle is born with some mental and physical disabilities. While his family and doctor all believe him to die or not live long he learns to do things such as walk and talk with the help of his older brother, that may not have been predicted he would be capable of. The main character in this story wants to help Doodle be “normal” and do the things other children can do before Doodle starts school. While the character helps his brother out of shame and selfish reasons, he does make progress with Doodle until his pride gets the better of him and Doodle passes away. In the story the family finds a Scarlet Ibis in their yard that had passed away the same day that Doodle is pushed to his limits and…

    • 639 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    James Hurst’s short story “The Scarlet Ibis” illuminates how too much pride can cause us to treat our loved ones in cruel ways. The narrator, or Brother, begins with his brother who he named Doodle that was a disappointment or invalid as he was physically different from the other kids. As Doodle and Brother grew up they went everywhere together and the narrator was embarrassed by of Doodle, so he felt as if he would teach him the things they thought he wasn't capable of to be like the others such as to walk. Once Brother had taught Doodle to walk he decided to create a development program for Doodle before school would start. The narrator one day took Doodle to learn how to swim at Horsehead Landing, until a storm came and they decided to go back home once it was worsening. The narrator had started to…

    • 446 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    How can a person be so selfish and vain as to kill his brother? In the short story, “ The Scarlet Ibis,” author James Hurst explores the love and cruelty of a boy towards his disabled brother, Doodle. The story depicts the South in the 1900’s, when babies with birth defects rarely survived due to a lack of advanced medical equipment. “The Scarlet Ibis” chronicles the bond of miracle baby, Doodle, and his older brother until his tragic death. The narrator, or brother, causes Doodle’s death by pushing him beyond his physical restrictions , putting pride before family, and abandoning Doodle in a life-threatening situation.…

    • 741 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout, the play a variety of people had pride however sometimes having pride leads to persecution. During the play Giles Corey always stood up when he thought something was off. Also sometimes he didn’t say anything with his confidence. This led to persecution by Giles Corey having pride in not giving the court a name. Giles Corey is getting pressed and he is not giving up the name the court wants. So Giles Corey says “More weight” (miller207). This quote was important because he ends up dying from how much weight they put on him and they falsely accused Giles. Another example of pride would be when John Proctor tears his confession up. John confessed to adultery and signed a piece of paper. The court wanted to hang it up on the courts…

    • 290 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays