ipl-logo

Literary Criticism: The Scarlet Ibis By James Hurst

577 Words3 Pages

Literary Criticism: “The Scarlet Ibis” “Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it then the next man… It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest. Once the element of competition is gone, pride is gone” (C.S. Lewis). Pride can be a dangerous thing if someone can not keep it under control. In “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, the narrator introduces his brother, Doodle, and his multiple health obstacles. Weak immediately from birth, Doodle was given a slim survival rate. After realizing Doodle would make it, the narrator was content on making Doodle as normal as possible. The narrator’s pride was a major impact on Doodle’s health, eventually leading him to his untimely …show more content…

The narrator longed for a brother to race, climb, and box with, but when he found out Doodle might not be able to do that, he planned his revenge: “It was bad enough having an invalid brother, but having one who possibly was not all there was unbearable, so I began to make plans to kill him by smothering him with a pillow” (Hurst 464). Before the narrator could kill him, Doodle grins up at him, startling the narrator. Doodle was underdeveloped, any excess amount of strain on his heart could kill him. In the winter of his third year, he learned to crawl. Until Doodle could walk, the narrator had to push him around in a go kart. Having to bring Doodle everywhere he went, the narrator was “embarrassed at having a brother of that age who couldn’t walk, so I set out to teach him” (446). The narrator and Doodle set to work on his walking ability. On Doodle’s sixth birthday, the narrator wanted to surprise his family with Doodle’s walking. The narrator’s family 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” (469). The narrator kept pushing Doodle even though Doodle did not believe he could walk. The narrator did this because he could not deal with the fact of having a crippled brother. Doodle’s brother did not only want Doodle to walk, he wants Doodle to run, swim, and swing from vines

Show More
Related
518 Words | 3 Pages

At a young age Doodle wants to go with his brother everywhere: “To discourage him coming with me, I’d run with him across the ends of the cotton rows and carren him around corners on two wheels” ( Hurst 465). When Doodle was five, his older brother was embarrassed with having a brother you could not walk. So he helped his brother learn, after a few weeks of trying to stand up. On Doodle’s sixth birthday he walked: “That Doodle only walked because I was ashamed of having a crippied brother” (468). After that, he wants to teach Doodle to swim and climb but before they can do that a storm comes.

Read More
386 Words | 2 Pages

Who's responsible for Doodles death? James Hurst short story "The Scarlet Ibis" the narrator is responsible for Doodle's death. During the story, the narrator complains about his brother and how he is an embarrassment. The narrator forced Doodle to walk, run, swim, fight, and climb when he was already sick. It puts so much pressure on Doodle that it made him give up.

Read More
521 Words | 3 Pages

By employing the use of conflict and similes, the author reveals Doodle’s determination and fragility. The use of conflict shows how Doodle is determined because the struggle for him to please his brother empowers him to overcome his physical disabilities. Doodle’s brother himself

Read More
470 Words | 2 Pages

When Doodle and his brother were playing one day his brother carried him up to the barn and made him touch his coffin that had been prepared for him. Doodle’s Brother was embarrassed by him because he was five years old and could not walk. Doodle’s brother did not want Doodle to go to school and not be able to

Read More
855 Words | 4 Pages

In the short story “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, a boy is born crippled and no one thought he would live. The boy lived however, and they named him Doodle. Doodle and his brother were very close and Doodle loved his brother and never wanted his brother to leave him alone. Doodle’s brother was ashamed to have a crippled brother so he attempted to help doodle become normal throughout doodle’s life in the story. Doodle loved his brother, even though his brother was very selfish in his reasons to help Doodle to become normal, and his brother realized how selfish and guilty he was when it was to late for Doodle in the end.

Read More
371 Words | 2 Pages

The narrator was occasionally cruel to Doodle. The narrator tries to get Doodle to touch the coffin that was built for him when he was born. When Doodle refuses, he threatens, “Then I’ll leave you here by yourself”. Doodle, being young and handicapped, is very dependent on his brother. Being alone terrifies him, and he uses that fear to force his brother to do something that scares

Read More
1030 Words | 5 Pages

Also, he only wants Doodle to walk so that the narrator doesn’t have to take Doodle around everywhere. If Doodle could walk, he could walk himself with his brother. All together, the narrator’s pride made him run from Doodle, and eventually killed Doodle. To sum up, the narrator’s pride was the main cause of the downfall of

Read More
763 Words | 4 Pages

The narrator didn’t really love Doodle, was cruel to him, and thought him how to stuff out of his own selfishness, so thank to the gift of pride, the narrator is guilty for the murder of his brother Doodle. The narrator despised Doodle. When Doodle was born and alive- against what the doctor said- the narrator says, "I began to make plans to kill him by smothering him with a pillow" (Hurst 345). The narrator wants to kill his brother because he realized he would not die and because of that, won't be able to do anything physically like brothers do together.

Read More
829 Words | 4 Pages

As Doodle grew older, it was evident that he was out of place as well as misjudged not only by his brother but by most of his family as well. The family built Doodle a coffin believing that he wouldn't survive. Doodle managed to prosper and eventually learned to crawl and talk although he still had to be rolled around in a cart everywhere. The narrator felt that Doodle was a burden so he decided to teach Doodle how to walk. He did this because he was embarrassed to have a disabled brother.

Read More
624 Words | 3 Pages

Doodle’s determination to surpass people’s presumptions is once again displayed when he learns to walk and stops relying on his brother to tow him around in a go-kart. The narrator describes it as “[When] he started crying to be taken out in the yard[,] it ended up being me having to lug him wherever I went,” he was, “a burden in many ways” (85-91). Having to take care of his brother often, something he does not enjoy and wishes would end, begins to feel like a chore for the narrator. Although the go-kart was an important part of Doodle’s transportation and the brother’s

Read More
740 Words | 3 Pages

“He was born when I was six, from the outset, a disappointment”. (Hurst, 350) from the moment Doodle was born he was viewed as not good enough for the narrator. The narrator had longings of what a brother would be like, when his new brother was physically incapable to live up to his desire he tried to change him out of pridefulness. Embarrassment and pride were the only reasons that Doodle was taught to walk, not because the narrator thought he was able. “Shut up, I’m not going to hurt you, I’m going to teach you to walk” (Hurst, 354) Doodle’s disability was not something he could ‘fix’, and on account of his brothers ego, Doodle was pushed too far, thus ultimately he could be pushed no

Read More
822 Words | 4 Pages

Eventually the narrator taught Doodle to walk, then decided to teach Doodle other abilities that would make Doodle be considered “Normal.” The narrator was so engrossed in this task that he did not notice that Doodle could not keep up. “I made him swim until he turned blue and row until he couldn't lift an oar. Wherever we went, I purposely walked fast, and although he kept up, his face turned red and his eyes became glazed. Once, he could go no further, so he collapsed on the ground and began to cry.”

Read More
867 Words | 4 Pages

I did not know then that pride is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines, life and death” (p.558). With these words, the Narrator reflects on the events and the insights that he gained

Read More
1208 Words | 5 Pages

I woke up in the camp tent for the first time to the sound of rifles shooting. I arrived yesterday and I could see the soldiers training, that’s mostly what they do here. From dawn to dusk, until the light is gone, they train. Well, that and gambling of course. I am in Sharpsburg, Maryland and it is September 16, 1862.

Read More
838 Words | 4 Pages

Serial Killers are everywhere throughout history. From Jack the Ripper who targeted prostitutes to the Anthrax Killer who sent letters laced with a very pure form of the disease-causing bacteria. Sometimes Investigation takes many years to catch the killer but in some cases the killers are never caught. These Notorious killers sent shockwaves of panic and fear throughout their communities. To fully understand all of this, we need to understand what a serial killer is.

Read More

More about Literary Criticism: The Scarlet Ibis By James Hurst

Related Topics

Open Document