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Depression In The Scarlet Ibis By James Hurst

1362 Words6 Pages

Depression in The Scarlet Ibis
Many people wouldn’t think that it’s possible to make a story about two young brothers depressing, but “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst shows that it is in fact possible. “The Scarlet Ibis” is a tale of two brothers, named William Armstrong, nicknamed Doodle, who was born disabled, and the narrator who doesn’t have a name. The tale follows the brothers through the adventures and hardships of their childhood that they got to experience together. In “The Scarlet Ibis,” author James Hurst uses Character actions, POV, and foreshadowing to enhance the story's depressing mood.
In the short story, “The Scarlet Ibis”, the author uses character actions to amplify the story’s mood of the story. In the story, an unknown …show more content…

They find out that the species is a Scarlet Ibis, and it is supposed to be down in the south, so it is clearly out of place. It’s injured, and ends up falling out of the tree and dies. Doodle in particular, tends to the bird and buries it. “Slowly, while singing softly “Shall We Gather At The River”, he carried the bird around to the front yard and dug a hole in the flower garden, next to the petunia bed.” (325-327). This quote shows both a sad and depressing moment, but also a moment of empathy between Doodle and the Scarlet Ibis. The author shows that Doodle is able to relate to the bird, because with his disability, he might feel out of place in his family and in society. This moment is depressing because of Doodle’s reaction to the death. Out of all of his family members, he is most interested and concerned about the Scarlet Ibis. The author also uses character actions to show the mood of depressing when he writes about the narrator’s actions when interacting with Doodle. Doodle and his brother go to Horsehead Landing, and Doodle’s brother is …show more content…

Doodle was born disabled, so he is unable to walk. His brother has to pull him everywhere in a cart, because his mom told him that he has to. He doesn’t want the embarrassment that would come with having to pull Doodle around, so he forces him to learn how to walk. When the brother’s showed their parents that Doodle learned how to walk, they were so proud of the brother for teaching Doodle. They didn’t know the real reason the brother taught Doodle though. “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.” (181-184). This quote shows that the mood of the short story is depressing, because the author shows the POV of the brother, and shows the real reason why the brother taught Doodle to walk. Without the POV, the author would not be able to show readers that information. This quote is depressing because readers would normally expect the reason that the brother taught Doodle to walk would be positive, when in reality it was for his own pride. The author also highlights the mood of depressing when using POV’s when he writes about the brother’s internal thoughts when Doodle fails him. Doodle and his brother were on their way to Horsehead Landing, with a goal to get Doodle ready to keep up with the schoolboys. Their

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The narrator dreamed of a brother that could do all those things but when his parents told him that “he wasn’t all there” he knew he had to do something about it therefore, “When Doodle was five years old, [he] was embarrassed at having a brother of that age that couldn’t walk, so [he] set out to teach him” (Hurst 488). Despite the physical condition with the Doodle , the narrator’s pride wanted him to “fix” him because he was ashamed of the Doodle ever since he was born. The narrator sets time out of his days to help his brother develop physically since Doodle is physically imobile. He goes down to Old Woman Swamp everyday to teach Doodle.

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”(1). This shows that Doodle is letting down his brother, and even family, through his newfound disability; a heart condition, which should’ve been fatal. This triggers the narrator to have a heartless attitude towards

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Doodle talked so much that his family had to just ignore him most of the time. At the beginning of the story Doodle could not walk, and then his brother decided to teach him. When his brother first decided to teach him how to walk he didn’t think he was strong enough, and he wanted to give up. Doodle did not think he was strong enough to walk, and he didn’t think he needed to learn. A motivation for Doodle to learn was when his brother took him to see the casket his parents bought for him when he was a baby, and they didn’t think he was going to live.

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In contrast to what his parents did, Doodle's brother totally disregarded him. He was so furious with Doodle that he even went as far as planning to kill him with a pillow. He expects his brother to do fun things with him instead of accepting the fact that he can’t due to his medical conditions. He was so embarrassed about having a brother who couldn’t walk that he tried to change it.

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He is ashamed of having a younger brother who can't walk, and he believes that if he can teach Doodle to walk, it will make him look better in the eyes of others. This prideful motivation leads him to push Doodle too hard, which ultimately leads to his death. Love is another theme that runs throughout the story. Despite

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The narrator says, “They did not know 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. ”(355). He only helped his brother because he was embarrassed by him, so his pride got the best of him. The narrator also says, “Do you want to be different from everybody else when you start school?”(357). Doodle did not care, so yet again the narrator just did not want to be embarrassed by him in front of other people.

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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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Pride can often change a person's character and demeanor without even realizing it, causing there to be potentially regretful and somber effects. This was demonstrated in the short story “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst. “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst is a story about the complexities and challenges of sibling connections and how one prideful achievement can result in an unexpected outcome. James Hurst uses many literary techniques to create the mood that can come from these outcomes. In “The Scarlet Ibis,” author James Hurst uses sequences of time, foreshadowing, figurative language, symbolism, and first-person point of view to enhance the story’s somber mood.

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This part shows that the narrator of the story wanted the doodle to walk only because it was embarrassing for him. He wanted a doodle to fit a mold that he can't fit and wanted him to be normal when he was already good. Another example of the theme in the story is when the brother first shows his parents Doodle's progress with his walking, and Doodle tells them that the narrator is the reason he learned to walk. “There wasn't a sound as Doodle walked slowly across the room and sat down at the table.

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He says this because he has to haul his brother around everywhere. (In page 1 paragraph 3) he was making plans to kill his brother because he couldn't play with him. He said that having a brother that wasn't there at all was unbearable, since he couldn't handle it he wanted to kill him? (Page 3 paragraph 5) says “ I was crying because doodle only was able to walk because i ashamed having a crippled brother. He only succeeded because he was ashamed because he had a special brother that couldn't walk.

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After burying the Scarlet Ibis, the boys planned to voyage into Horsehead Landing. Sometime during the adventure, Doodle stated how he was feeling very tired. Soon came black clouds which were later followed by lighting and thunder. So the boys stopped their trip and turned back home, racing the storm. The narrator was very aware that Doodle was frightened and exhausted, but the rain came down harder.

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Both of them want a normal Doodle. Even though the brother goes down to the swamp for for himself and not Doodle it is still a nice thing to do for Doodle. Now for the start of a tragedy. The brother is walking fast than usual and Doodle has a hard time keeping up.

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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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