Human Nature In The Scarlet Ibis, By James Hurst

Not all humans have a strong conscious, so they do whatever is best for themselves. Steven Pinker once said, “ Human nature is complex. Even if we do have inclinations toward violence, we also have inclination to empathy, to cooperation, to self-control.” In other words, this quote means human nature is more towards the empathetic side rather than the apathetic side. One could disagree with this quote because the works of literature have demonstrated that people do things out of selfishness. Both Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, and The Scarlet Ibis, by James Hurst express this human nature. The short story, The Scarlet Ibis, demonstrates that human nature is not towards the empathetic side but more towards the selfish side. One way the author proves this point is through the characterization of Doodle’s brother in the story. In the text it say’s “When Doodle was five years old, I was to embarrassed at having a brother of that age couldn’t walk, so I set out to teach him….He was a burden in many ways.” (p.2) Doodle’s brother only wanted to help him because he was to embarrassed to be with a disabled brother. He thought of Doodle as a burden that was weighing him down, so he taught him to run, swim, and to fight. He thought that once he would teach his brother how to be ‘normal’ he

One way the author proves this is by the internal conflict of George. George wishes he could be independent and not have Lennie always with him. In the text it says “ I could get along so easy and so nice if I didn’t have you on my tail. I could live so easy and maybe have a girl.”(p.7) George feels obligated to be with Lennie and help him because he knew his Aunt Clara. He doesn’t want to watch over Lennie, but he knows that it is the right thing to do and he does not want the guilt of not helping Lennie, so he stays with him throughout the