Doodle's Struggle In The Scarlet Ibis By James Hurst

This story tugs at heart strings and leaves the question, “Who wrote these unsettling events?” In “The Scarlet Ibis,” there are many highs and lows. A boy struggles with acceptance of his brother. To the boy, his brother is about half of what he should be. The boy believes this problem is his duty to fix. In James Hurst’s “The Scarlet Ibis,” strong forces lead to loss too soon. Doodle was not the most ideal brother, leading to turmoil inside the boy. To him, Doodle was an embarrassment, leading to a powerful urge to make him walk (Hurst 112). Sometimes family isn’t perfect, but it is what it is; there is no choice. The boy needed to not let him get ahead of himself. In the story, Doodle was considered a hassle (Hurst 110). Things can get rough, but that is the reason family is there, for support. This was something the boy was not doing. No one is perfect. Not Doodle, not the boy. Through the journey with Doodle, there were constant threats spewed, hoping to have Doodle achieve a certain standard (Hurst 112). This is a scenario of tough love pushed too far. Threats and harsh statements do more harm than

According to Aunt Nicey, dead birds are bad luck (Hurst 117). The scarlet ibis dying definitely was bad luck. It was a sign for something worse to come. Foreshadowing was used by Hurst in “The scarlet ibis,” Unfortunately, it was cracking open the door to another death, Doodle’s. Both the scarlet ibis and Doodle come through a long journey and were too tired to keep up any longer. A scarlet ibis represents knowledge, and the boys knew they weren’t going to be able to accomplish their goal of doing more than just walking (Hurst 117). This setback promoted terrible things to come, both Doodle and the Ibis dying. The sighting of a scarlet ibis is extremely rare, just like the situations that were about to unfold. The short appearance of the scarlet ibis clued at what was to