In the short story, “The Scarlet Ibis”, James Hurst conveys his theme to the readers in order to discuss the issue of pride and how having too much pride can negatively impact another individual. Within the story, James Hurst brings forward his message when Brother is beginning to teach Doodle how to walk at Old Woman Swamp. After some innumerable attempts Brother feels a strong urge to give up but his pride over Doodle would not let him give up. Shortly after Brother starts thinking to himself, “I did not know then that pride is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines, life and death.” (170-172)
Although with bad intentions Brother’s pride came with positive effects. The first effect that Brother’s had was that it helped him perceive that Doodle was an intelligent human being. “Mama, he smiled. He’s all there! He’s all there!
Blood may be thicker than water, but pride can be thicker than both blood and water. Pride can be life or death. Pride can be good or bad. In the story “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst the narrator’s pride ruled over his actions and decisions. The narrator’s pride lead to the death of his little brother, Doodle.
“He might not, she sobbed, even be all there.” (line 35-36) Mother was so worried about Doodle’s flaws she never took the time to see his strengths. On the other hand Brother wanted Doodle to be able to function the way he does and when Doodle couldn’t, he took it upon himself to harm him. Mother and Brother never took the time to accept Doodle’s unique characteristics.
it can lead to selfishness and guilt) Support #1 Older brother thinks “pride is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines, life and death.” Support #2 Older brother leaving Doodle to die Concluding Sentence Hurst is an incredible writer through his literary devices and ideas, especially through his theme of pride in his story “The Scarlet Ibis.” V. Conclusion Restatement of your thesis in different words James Hurst is widely recognized for his powerful theme of pride which is an involuntary feeling of selfishness and guilt that is beneficial and detrimental that is represented by Doodle and the older brother.
Relationships can be affected by pride causing unawareness in people. The idea of pride is expressed in “The Rocket Man” by Ray Bradbury and “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst. In “ The Rocket Man”, pride can be seen when Doug’s father chooses outer space over his family without even acknowledging how this decision may affect the people around him. In “The Scarlet Ibis”, Brother’s pride leads him to become careless about Doodle causing Doodle’s death. Pride cause people to act without thinking of the influence their actions have on others.
Special treatment due to a physical or mental challenge reveals the strength and true character inside, When a challenge, or adversity comes up, a good character is usually revealed, although in some cases a person isn’t caring or selfless inside. Adversity can cause the bad inside someone to come out. In “The Scarlet Ibis,” the narrator teaches his physically disabled brother to walk. “Once I succeeded in teaching Doodle I began to believe in my own infallibility, and I prepared a terrific development program for him, unknown to Mama and Daddy of course” (Scarlet Ibis, Hurst). After succeeding he keeps trying to get Doodle to be more like everyone else.
“I did not know then that pride is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines like and death.” Pride can be a good thing and at the same time a bad thing. Just like doodle and his brother in the scarlet ibis. Doodle was born not being able to walk. Him and his brother tried, and tried, but doodle always kept giving up.
While pride can be a good thing, it can also be an unattractive quality to possess. “I should have already admitted defeat but my pride wouldn’t let me. It was too late to turn back now for we both wandered too far into the net of expectations and left no crumbs behind (pg174).”The article shows that pride can be a driving force in achieving goals no matter the situation and the older brother wouldn’t give up trying to train Doodle, Doodle was getting hurt and that pride can cause pain to someone you love. “When Doodle was five years old I was embarrassed at
Pride...is something to fear. This quote is directly connected with the story “The Scarlet Ibis”. Brother’s past now haunts him. Pride is a powerful thing and it's not always good.
Brother put lots of his time, effort, and care into Doodle even though "It's a miracle [he] didn't give up" (Hurst). His efforts showed the pride he had, or at least wanted to have in his younger sibling; even if it was rooted in selfishness. Pride is what motivated Brother to help him, though he wished it was his family which gave him the grit to always push Doodle to success. Brother
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
Should College really be free? To get into a university in today’s world a student in high school has to get good grades, but what if there was a way to get in to college with the first two years being free. Now most students would agree with going to college for free, but with that there would be an issue like too many students at Universities. This would be just one of the many problems with college being free.
At first the narrator sees Doodle as a crazy frail brother but as we move into the story, we can observe a lot of varying feelings brother has towards Doodle. Brother described Doodle as unbearable, an invalid brother, a brother who was not there at all, so he started
“Pride is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines, life and death” (Hurst 2). This is how James Hurst describes pride in his heart-wrenching short story, “The Scarlet Ibis.” What speaks to me most about this quote is its profound truth. For the majority of people, pride is either a positive or negative thing, but what Hurst and I seem to agree about is the fact that pride can be both. It is an undeniable symptom of the human condition, a tool that can either create or destroy, and is responsible for the best and worst parts of history.
