Brother Doodle Character Analysis

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Character Analysis: The character that I have chosen to analyze is Brother. At the beginning of the story, we are introduced to brother as a fun-loving kid who just wants a playmate. When his brother, Doodle, is born though he becomes selfish and ashamed of his brother. Brother is selfish when he says, “was embarrassed at having a brother of that age who couldn't walk, so I set out to teach him.” The only reason a Brother taught Doodle how to walk was for his own personal gain. Brother is ashamed of Doodle because of his disability and [Doodle] walked only because [Brother] was ashamed of having a crippled brother. It is incredibly selfish to put your personal gain over someone else’s illness, especially if it's your own baby brother. …show more content…

People with disabilities are no less than regular people and they deserve the same love and respect. Brother obviously does not understand this because he is constantly acting like he is bettering Doodle’s life when his intent is his own personal gain. Brother feels the guilt of teaching Doodle to walk for his own personal gain when he reflects, “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.” Brother finally learns what karma can do to a person when Doodle dies. The scene of Doodle’s death is depicted as “bleeding from the mouth, and his neck, and the front of his shirt were stained a brilliant red.” The traumatic experience of Brother seeing Doodle in such a state was when he learned the lesson of “What goes around comes around.” Questions and Answers: What do you think would have happened if Brother actually followed through with killing Doodle? I think Brother would live with the constant guilt of taking Doodle’s life. I also think he was responsible for Doodle’s actual death since he took no precautions to save him. So it seems as if Brother would have been living with guilt either way. How does the theme of innocence tie into this