The Positive and Negative Effects of Pride In the short story, “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst pride has both positive and negative effects on the characters. The narrator of the story had taught his younger brother, Doodle, to walk. He was very prideful about the fact that was able to teach his brother how to walk. The pride he felt was positive because it led to his brother learning to walk. The narrator says, “Doodle told them it was I who had taught him to walk, so everyone wanted to hug me, and I began to cry” (Hurst 559). We can see the positive effects of the pride that the narrator has for Doodle in this passage because he cries when Doodle tells their family that it was him who had taught Doodle to walk. After Doodle learned to walk