Selfishness In The Scarlet Ibis, By James Hurst

Scarlet Ibis

“Selfish people tend to only be good to themselves… then are surprised when they are alone”,(unknown).This is how Brother found himself when he abandoned Doodle during a storm. In The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst a child named William Armstrong (Doodle) is born with a medical condition who revokes him the ability to walk. But the selfishness, his Brother has been blinded by makes him want to teach his Brother to walk out of embarrassment “of having a crippled brother.” Therefore Brother is two faced he can be selfish or he can be altruistic to Doodle, which demonstrates how complex brotherly love can be. Although Brother's reasons for helping Doodle are driven by selfishness, Doodle does benefit from them

Brother often foreshadows that Doodle is a burden to bare with. Brother reckons, “The knowledge that Doodle’s and my plans had come to naught was bitter, and that streak of cruelty within me awaked. I ran as fast as I could, leaving him far behind with a wall of rain dividing us” (Hurst 6). Just the idea if Doodle in Brother's Plans and the obstacle he would become was too much for Brother to handle.Because if this act Brother is once again showing an act of selfishness. Ironically after Brother has realized that he had abandoned Doodle he goes back to find him face down. Hurst writes, “He had been bleeding from the mouth, and his neck and the front of his shirt were stained a brilliant red. ‘Doodle ! Doodle !’ I cried, shaking him, but there was no answer but ropy rain.”After he realized what he had done Brother is suddenly filled with guilt that Doodle was now dead. Doodles brothers pride brings many positive changes into Doodles life but in the same way it causes Doodles death.Bringing with it a lifetime of guilt and conscious. Ultimately this a story of a very confusing and complex relationship between Brother's.This story lead us to believe that Doodle's brother loved and hated