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Desolation In The Scarlet Ibis By James Hurst

822 Words4 Pages

Two brothers create a special bond but later learn it is not that way. “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst is a story that contains the main character, Brother, and his little brother, Doodle, who struggles physically. Throughout the story Doodle was put to the test by brother physically and sometimes emotionally. Brother did this in pride and learned that pride led to Doodle's Death. The author conveys the feeling of desolation and it is shown by point of view, character dialogue, character actions.
Point of view helps James Hurst make the story feel desolate. Throughout the story the main character, Brother, was expecting that doodle would die so he would look down on doodle which can show the hate/agitation he had against doodle. “He seemed all head, with a tiny body which was red and shriveled like an old man’s. Everybody thought he was going to die—everybody except Aunt Nicey,” (Hurst 20). This quote from the “Scarlet Ibis” talks about …show more content…

‘And before I’ll help you down from the loft, you’re going to have to touch it.’ ‘I won’t touch it,’ he said sullenly. ‘Then I’ll leave you here by yourself,’” (Hurst 107). This dialogue is desolation because the meaning behind Doodle touching his casket is to realize that he's not supposed to be here and that he should have been dead a while ago. This dialogue also shows desolation because Doodle is able to stand up for himself here but fails because Brother threatens him. Character dialogue is an important tool. An example is at the end of the story when brother is leaving doodle behind in the rain. This is dialogue from Doodles point of view. “‘Brother, Brother, don’t leave me! Don’t leave me!’” (Hurst 370). These words are the most impactful of the story and show a direct relationship to the definitive of desolation. This shows how impactful words can be in this story. It also shows how much doodle has worked for and how brother left him behind, by using character dialogue to show the mood is

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Doodle ended up learning to walk and talk, which shows that he develops throughout the story. As you know, the name of the poem is "The Scarlet Ibis," which you can connect to the rage and redness of Doodle's brother wanting to kill him. Doodle is very weak he seemed all head with a tiny body that was red and shriveled like an old man. Everybody thought he was going to die—everybody except Aunt Nicey, who had delivered him.

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The tone on which this part of the story is told makes the reader feel Brother's thoughts of regret and sadness while looking back on what he remembers of Doodle. As the rainstorm was building up, so were Brother's emotions. All he could think about was the shame he felt towards Doodle and what other people would think of him. In the beginning of this story, Brother is sitting by Doodles grave and thinking back at what had happened. “I sit in the cool, green-draped parlor, the grindstone begins to turn, and time with all its changes is ground away—and I remember Doodle” (line 13).

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Considering the mood set in the beginning, a death here is pretty significant. Also, when the Scarlet Ibis dies, Doodle is shocked and decides to bury it. This gives the reader the thought of death and honoring the dead, which is the message the author is trying to

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By protecting Doodle’s dead body from the rain, Doodle’s brother has finally accepted Doodle’s fragility and delicacy. But it was already too late; the damage done by his actions had already been done. Doodle’s brother expecting too much from Doodle ended up with him being in sorrow and in

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When Brother took Doodle outside they didn’t predict the weather that was inbound to where they were. Brother heard Doodle cry, “Brother, being Brother, Brother, Don’t leave me, Don’t leave me” (475). His egotistical brain made him lose the thought to take Doodle with him when it rains. When the lightning came down, Doodle was scared and crying for help. This reveals the abusive motivation Brother intended for

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“The Scarlet Ibis” Revision Brainstorm Doodle’s Coffin Narrator’s own insecurities over Doodle’s state The way pride over takes him because of his own wants- quote Doodle Walking and Narrator Crying Narrator crying because he knows how his pride is affecting his own treatment of Doodle Still not over pride- hasn’t gotten past it Doodle’s Death Narrator realizes full consequence of actions when doodle dies Connects to the Scarlet Ibis due to the way he pushed Doodle Paragraph In James Hurst’s short story “The Scarlet Ibis” the story follows the narrator and his brother Doodle throughout their early childhood and captures the struggle of the young disabled Doodle and the narrator’s pride. By the end of the story, the narrator becomes

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These are the reasons why the narrator was a bad brother towards Doodle.

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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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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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This angered the narrator, so he threatened to leave Doodle alone in the barn loft. Knowing that Doodle wouldn’t be able to leave without any help. The narrator’s animosity showed mostly when he felt ashamed to have Doodle as a brother, because he was invalid and unable to

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“It was bad enough having an invalid brother, but having one who was possibly not there at all was unbearable, so i began to make plans to kill him by smothering him with a pillow. However, one afternoon as I watched him ... he looked straight at me and grinned.” Once the narrator attempted to kill Doodle, he realized that he couldn't . He didn’t kill his brother simply because he realized that Doodle was aware and he was “all there”, something that his family doubted him to be.

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In The Scarlet Ibis, the author revealed finally the real feelings of Brother toward his brother Doodle. During the whole incidents of the short story, Brother is not accepting Doodle as a brother because of the abnormality which Doodle suffered from and so Brother feels ashamed. The last scene in the short story is so tragic. The scene is portrayed as Brother returned back to Doodle who was found dead, having bled from the mouth and his neck is covered in blood. The act of crying and screaming by Brother for the death of his brother Doodle is a pure tragic scene and by such scene the reader makes the readers feel that Brother loves his brother Doodle and for such love he tried to protect him from an outside world.

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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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The Scarlet Ibis In Literature,authors use many different literary techniques to develop the themes of their stories. In James Hurst's short story”The Scarlet Ibis” set in the early nineteen hundreds on a rural farm,the narrator flashes back to his childhood days as he tells of his life with his brother Doodle. As Doodle struggles to overcome his handicap,his brother struggles with his embarrassment at having a brother who has difficulties. Through his use of characters and event, Hurst develops his theme”that pride is a wonderful,terrible thing,a seed that bears two vines,life and death. Through hurst use of events in the story you can seen how his theme,”pride is a wonderful terrible thing” unfolds through the story .

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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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