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Scarlet Ibis Theme

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James Hurst’s short story ” The Scarlet Ibis” tells a story about two brothers who have mixed feelings for each other. Doodle, crippled and mental, really loves his brother and all he wants is to please his brother and his family. Unfortunately, his brother doesn’t like him because he wanted a brother he could play with. He also believes that Doodle is a burden to him because he has to take him wherever he goes and has to take care of him.
The theme of “ The Scarlet Ibis” is that too much pride can be destructive. The theme first appears when Hurst wants Doodle to be better and he hopes for a better brother. Hurst says, “ I thought myself pretty smart at many things, like holding my breath, running, jumping, or climbing the vines in Old Woman …show more content…

One day I took him to the barn loft and showed him his casket, telling him how we all believed he would die.” Hurst was upset that Doodle wouldn’t learn to walk so he took Doodle up to the barn loft and showed him his casket, telling him that they all believed he was going to die and he told Doodle to touch the casket or he was going to leave him in the barn loft. In the end when he shows his parents that Doodle can walk Hurst’s dad asked him why he was crying and Hurst says, “ They did not know I did it for myself , that pride, whose slave I was, spoke to me louder than their voices, and that Doodle only walked only because I was ashamed of having a crippled brother”. It means that he only showed his brother how to walk because he was ashamed of having a crippled brother. Later when they were walking outside it started to storm so they ran to their house, and Hurst says, “ The knowledge that Doodle’s and my plans had come to naught was bitter, and that streak of cruelty within me awakened. I ran as fast as I could, leaving him far behind with a wall of rain dividing us”. Hurst was so mad that his plans to make Doodle better failed so he left Doodle far behind in the rain. When Hurst went back for him he was dead because he couldn’t run in the rain. In conclusion the theme of the story is pride can be destructive because since Doodle couldn’t walk and Hurst wanted to show him anyway, out of pride, Doodle

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