Sweet Potato Pie By Eugenia Collier Summary

Two Types of Brothers

There are often two types of brothers; the brother who puts his siblings first, and the brother who puts himself first. In the story “Sweet Potato Pie” by Eugenia Collier, the story revolves around the close bond of two African-American brothers named Buddy and Charley who grow up during the 1950’s. In the story “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, a brother teaches Doodle, his disabled brother, how to walk and run to ease his feelings of being ashamed of Doodle. The older brother in “Sweet Potato Pie,” is the antithesis of the older brother in “The Scarlet Ibis.”

In “Sweet Potato Pie,” the older brother wants to help his brother for no cost, and the older brother in “The Scarlet Ibis” wants to help his brother because he’s embarrassed by having a disabled brother. Charley, in “Sweet Potato Pie,” has to take care of his younger siblings since his parents are constantly working in the fields. Charley helped Buddy fix his

In “Sweet Potato Pie,” Charley wanted to cure Buddy from stuttering, and he also wanted his brother to have a better future than he would. For example, as the story says “You ain gon be no poor farmer, Buddy. You gon be a teacher or maybe a doctor or a lawyer.” (66) Charley had high hopes for his brother, and he believed that someday, his brother wouldn’t be poor. In “The Scarlet Ibis,” the older brother didn’t set a goal for Doodle, yet he set a goal for himself. For example, in the story “When Doodle was five years old, I was embarrassed at having a brother of that age who couldn’t walk, so I set out to teach him.” (49). This demonstrates that teaching his brother how to walk was an accomplishment for him, not for Doodle. Charley cared about Buddy because he loved him, however the older brother in “The Scarlet Ibis” was embarrassed of Doodle so he only thought of