Symbolism In The Scarlet Ibis By James Hurst

When an author writes a story or novel, most of the time objects are purposely incorporated into a plot to symbolize something significant. “The Scarlet Ibis”, written by James Hurst, has a lot of symbolism that greatly contributes to the plot. This short story is about a little boy whose name is Doodle. He is born with a fully functioning brain but an extremely weak body. His brother, who narrates this story, teaches him how to walk, swim, climb, and run out of self pity because of embarrassment he feels due to his younger brother’s disabilities. In the end, Doodle dies due to an unknown reason while running home from a hard training session with his brother during a destructive thunderstorm. The overall theme of this short story is that delicate

When he is born, doctors expect him to die shortly after birth because his body is extremely weak. His family prepares his coffin for him so they would be ready for Doodle’s death happens. Doodle is able to live a much longer life than the doctors expect. This shows that he has strength that many people overlook and ignore that makes it possible for him to increase his life expectancy and also the quality. Additionally, doctors tell his family that Doodle will never be able to walk. Even though it was out of self pity, the narrator teaches him how to walk, despite what everyone is saying. Clearly something is driving Doodle towards success or he would have died already. The author states, “But he didn’t die and when he was three months old, Mama and Daddy decided they might as well name him, They named him William Armstrong, which was like tying a big tail on a small kite . Such a name sounds good only on a tombstone” (Hurst 25-28). This quote shows that no one has any faith in Doodle when he is born just because he had some disabilities working against him. It contributes to the theme by showing that Doodle has always been very delicate and sensitive his whole life. Shortly after people doubt him, he is able to walk and run, which are both things that doctors say he wasn't suppose to be able to do in his life. Doodle being able to walk and run

During the story, Doodle finds a Scarlet Ibis, which is a type of red bird, outside his house that ends up there after a bad thunderstorm. Doodle is the only person in the family that cares that the bird has a proper funeral after its death. Ultimately, the storm leads to the death of the bird because if the storm never takes place, the bird’s outcome could have been different. While Doodle dies due to a reason that wasn't disclosed by the author, he still dies during a thunderstorm at the end of the short story. Doodle and his older brother are at Horsehead Landing training, and they get caught in a thunderstorm. As they are running home, Doodle separates from his older brother because he is unable keep up anymore. His older brother doesn't stop until he realises that Doodle isn't behind him, but it is already too late. Hurst states, “‘Doodle!’ I screamed above the pounding storm and threw my body to the earth above his. For a longtime, it seemed forever, I lay there crying, sheltering my fallen Scarlet Ibis from the heresy of rain” (391-393 Hurst). The storm showed that Doodle needed protection in this kind of situation where he might not be strong enough to get out safely on his