In the short story, “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, the narrator is not responsible for Doodle death. Doodle is introduced as the narrators little brother and he is described as invalid, meaning he is sick or weak. On page 485, it says “He was born when I was six and was, from the outset a disappointment. He seemed all head, with a tiny body which was red and shriveled like an old man’s.” In this quote, it is obvious that Doodle is abnormal which causes his family, with exception of the narrator and Aunt Nicey, that he was going to die soon after his birth. Aunt Nicey still says that he’s not going to die because he was born in a caul, a membrane enclosing a baby at birth. The narrator still had hope that he’d live, which he did. Their mother and father didn’t. …show more content…
He was motivated by the fact that Doodle is crippled. The narrator was ashamed to have a crippled brother and that was keeping him up to teach Doodle to walk and run. Once he got Doodle to successfully stand and walk on his own, he wanted to show mother and father. The day came and once Doodle stood up and walked slowly on his own the mother started crying. They both hugged Doodle and the narrator was also crying. Not by the fact the Doodle can walk, but by the fact that his pride was crushed when he knew the real reason why he taught