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Ambition's Folly In The Scarlet Ibis

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Ambition’s Folly in the “Scarlet Ibis” “It’s only hubris if I fail”-Julius Caesar. This attitude is mimicked by the nameless narrator in the “Scarlet Ibis”. He is the lense that Doodle’s death is seen through. He is a mere boy pushed to passive homicide through the folly of man and civilization's progress pushed on his adolescent shoulders. He is the accidental killer of his brother pushed to this state by his and societies best and worst qualities. The Brother (the narrator) is compelled to teach and kill Doodle by the two pillars of his character; and the character of man: ambition and arrogance. The narrator is annoyed from the beginning of Doodle’s birth, he holds only contempt for his new sibling. Not because he does not want a sibling, but because he wants one the that can lend to his ambitions and further his goal of progress and greatness. Brother …show more content…

The narrator is a representation of society. He is civilians that will not wait for the less fortunate or challenged individuals. He is people who do not want to deal with realities because they are inconvenient. He eventually realizes Doodle is not a hurdle in his life but his brother to be embrace. He puts effort into teaching Doodle to walk and swim, but even then he is cruel to his brother. He is not helping Doodle out of compassion but because it is more convenient in the long run. However he can not abandoned Doodle quick enough when Doodle fails his expectations. Ambition can be valuable but ambition is most valuable in the face of adversity. If the narrator had handled his disappointment in Doodle with poise his brother would not be dead. Hubris is only evident in failure. If the narrator society, and Doodle it's “lesser” members; then according to Mr.Hurst we have failed and our childrens empathy will continue to be the casualty of that

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Pride can be a really good thing that keeps you going and makes you try hard, but it is also a very destructive force that can hurt you and others. Doodle was one of those people who got hurt because of someone's pride. In “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst the story shows that the narrator is guilty of Doodle’s death. These are my two reasons supporting this claim. First off the narrator was ashamed of Doodle, and second He just simply did not like Doodle.

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Would you ever think a person with a disabled brother would be ashamed of him? Sadly, throughout most of the story the narrator in The Scarlet Ibis” has tried to change him and make him a normal kid. Some of the character traits that the narrator has are that he is generous, ignorant, and dramatic. One of the first things the reader notices is how cruel the narrator is. When the narrator threatens to leave Doodle all by himself.

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In the short story “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, a boy is born crippled and no one thought he would live. The boy lived however, and they named him Doodle. Doodle and his brother were very close and Doodle loved his brother and never wanted his brother to leave him alone. Doodle’s brother was ashamed to have a crippled brother so he attempted to help doodle become normal throughout doodle’s life in the story. Doodle loved his brother, even though his brother was very selfish in his reasons to help Doodle to become normal, and his brother realized how selfish and guilty he was when it was to late for Doodle in the end.

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Doodle was a baby that was lucky to live, he was very different. His older brother, the narrator of the story, was helping Doodle be normal. Doodles death resembled the death of a bird, the Scarlet Ibis, that doodle was attached to the bird because they were

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The narrator did not accept Doodle as his younger brother. The narrator wanted to remain an only child; therefore, he resented Doodle. Doodle was mentally and physically disabled, so he was not able to participate in normal activities. The narrator

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“The Scarlet Ibis” Essay Have you ever known a person to be responsible for his own brother’s death? That’s what happened in “The Scarlet Ibis”. The narrator (whose name is not known) inadvertently caused his brother Doodle’s death, when the narrator ran from Doodle in a rainstorm, even when Doodle called out to his brother and told him not to leave him. Doodle had a condition which caused him to be different from everyone else, and his brother helped him learn to walk, and tried to teach him other things, such as swimming. In the rainstorm, the narrator ran from Doodle, and Doodle must have fallen and died somewhere, because when his brother came back for him, Doodle was dead.

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Lastly on page 6 paragraph 3 or 4 “bitter, and that streak of cruelty within me awakened.” This goes to show how he already knew that he was going to leave Doodle in the dust just like in the beginning when he wanted to smother him in the pillow. After this all happend Brother regrets his life decisions that he and Doodle ever did. In conclusion I hold him accountable for the death of Doodle.

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The narrator is responsible for his brother’s death because he allowed his own pride and embarrassment drive him to push Doodle because he was not the same as the other children, he was aggressive toward Doodle and at times abusive, and pushed Doodle too far and didn’t understand his limitations.

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"Doodle!" I screamed above the pounding storm and threw my body to the earth above his. For a long time, it seemed forever, I lay there crying, sheltering my fallen scarlet ibis from the heresy of rain”(Hurst 6).This section shows from the end of Doodle’s life onward Brother has felt guilty. The whole story is Brothers story of the dangers of pride and his personal experience.

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In the progression of the story, we can witness the narrator feeling towards Doodle evolve. Every now and then, the narrator expresses genuine care and affection. However, on many occasions, his pride gets in the way. This change makes him obsessed with forcing Doodle to do things that are beyond his powers, and he often pushes him too far by trying to change him. Such a desire to rearrange doodles shows the different aspects of family ties common with people.

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The narrator’s pride wants Doodle to be an ordinary brother, and kills him in the strive for perfection. “For a long time, it seemed forever, I lay there crying, sheltering my fallen scarlet ibis,” the narrator reveals (426). For the first time, the narrator notices the connection between the scarlet ibis and Doodle. When Doodle dies, his neck is twisted identical to the scarlet ibis’ neck as it dies under the bleeding tree, along with the fact that they are both weak and fragile. The scarlet ibis and Doodle has come a long way, dodging many obstacles and achieving many goals, but in the end, both fall short of

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One day Doodle went to Old Woman Swamp with his brother and a storm hit, so Doodle and his brother were going back home, when as a result of his heels being stepped on several times, his brother started running away from him, leaving Doodle alone in the storm. When his brother realized what an atrocious thing he had done to his helpless sibling, he went back to get Doodle, and just like the Scarlet Ibis they saw die in their tree hours earlier, Doodle was lying there under a tree… dead. The first example of the theme “selfish people aren't the ones that suffer their selfishness: it's those around them, in which it harms”, is when the narrator says “ Occasionally I too became discouraged because it didn't seem as if he were trying, and I would say, ‘Doodle, don't you want to learn to walk?’ He'd nod his head, and I'd say, ‘Well, if you don't keep trying, you'll never learn.’ Then I'd paint for him a picture of us as old men, white-haired, him with a long white beard and me still pulling him around in the go-cart.

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1049 Words | 5 Pages

Such ending of The Scarlet Ibis is surprizing for both the narrator and the reader. In fact, the death of Doodle after growing up is unexpected by neither the narrator nor the reader. (Hamdi, DeAngelis, 2008, Page

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Due to his hurtful actions, inflicted upon Doodle throughout his life, the Narrator feels deep shame for what he has caused. Through the elements of foreshadowing and dialogue, Hurst’s narration reveals the protagonist’s guilt, emphasizing his deep regret over his actions regarding his crippled brother. The Narrator foreshadows the eventual climax of the story through his words regarding his views of pride. He states, “But all of us must have something to be proud of, and Doodle had become mine.

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When the storm hits, the two brothers run back to the house but Doodle can not keep up and brother taken over by pride leaves him there alone. That powerful pride that brother has, always breaks his bond with Doodle, after the failed lesson they just had, he gives up on his brother. The narrator, clearly has a lot of things going on inside his head, lost he just leaves him there because of his failure and an inside pride. “I began to weep and the tear-blurred vision in red before me looked very familiar. Doodle I screamed above the pounding storm and threw my body to the earth above his.

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