Symbolism In The Scarlet Ibis

It is normal for a big Brothers to give their little brothers a hard time right? In the short story “the Scarlet Ibis” our narrator, Brother shows that he’s both caring for his little brother Doodle and also very cruel to him at times. Brother tries his best to be kind to Doodle and begins teaching him how to walk and everything else most other kids know how to do. Brother has to take Doodle everywhere with him, so he starts to share his hobbies so Doodle does not feel left out. “I would gather wildflowers, wild violets, honeysuckle, yellow jasmine, snakeflower and water lilies and with wire grass we’d weave them into necklaces and crowns”Pg.191. This symbolizes how Brother likes spending time with Doodle, even if it is forced at first. He and Doodle are building a very good bond and Brother always has Doodle partake in activities with him so that he

“Oh yes you can do it. All you got to do is try, now come on”Pg.192. This illustrates how patient Brother is becoming with doodle when he first begins teaching him. He is strong for Doodle and he never stops pushing him because he wants him to succeed so badly. Brother is loving and attentive for Doodle but unfortunately, this is not the only side Doodle sees from Brother. On the flipside of Brothers personality, he is not always so sweet to Doodle and can often be seen as evil. Brother explains how he was quite disappointed in how his new little brother didn’t really know how to do anything. “So begin making plans to kill him in his sleep by smothering him with a pillow”. This largely emphasizes how meretricious Brother was and how he in fact, had a dark side. Towards the end of Brothers teachings, he starts to grow impatient because of how slow the progress is. Brother even begins taking notice on his vicious ways “That streak of cruelty awakened within me. I ran as fast as I