The short story of “The Scarlet Ibis” is a story of two brothers, in which the older brother pushes his younger brother, Doodle, to be perfect and to be just like the other boys. This story is expressed through many different symbols that have meaning throughout the story. “The Scarlet Ibis” uses symbolism in birds, death, and the color red to show the conflict of one older brother pushing his younger brother to be perfect. Birds are used throughout “The Scarlet Ibis” to symbolize how fragile and unique the lives of creatures in nature are. “On the topmost branch a bird the size of a chicken with scarlet feathers and long legs was precariously”(Hurst). The author uses the description of how high up the bird is, to give a description of how fragile the bird’s life will be when it falls from the tall tree. Hurst uses a unique description of the size and color of the bird and its body parts for it to be viewed as something different than the typical bird you see everyday. The author uses the word, precariously, to foreshadow that the bird will eventually take a long fall to the ground due to the loose grip on the branch. …show more content…
“Even death did not mar its grace, for it lay on the earth like a broken vase of red flowers, and we stood around it, awed by its exotic beauty”(Hurst). The author mentions how the bird was lying on the ground to show how still and lifeless the bird was. The broken vase of red flowers gave a sense of a calm death and the breaking of life and love in the bird. When Hurst mentions the standing around the bird and awing its exotic beauty it puts a symbol of how beautiful the bird was before it let go and gave its life