The Price of Pride The eighteenth-century British novelist Laurence Sterne wrote, “Nobody but he who has felt it, can conceive what a plaguing thing it is to have a man’s mind torn asunder by two projects of equal strength both obstinately pulling in a contrary direction at the same time.” In the story, pride is in a constant battle against love and hate. In James Hurst’s short story “The Scarlet Ibis,” the character of Brother is pulled between two opposing forces and learns the price of pride. The odds were against them, but Brother’s pride helped Doodle achieve more than they thought was possible. For instance, Brother said “But all of us must have something or someone to be proud of, and Doodle had become mine”(Hurst, 170). In …show more content…
When Doodle was born, Brother said; “It was bad enough having an invalid brother, but having one who possibly was not all there is unbearable,”(Hurst, 183). Brother’s pride and expectations were getting out of hand. Everything he wanted was for his own joy and fulfillment. Brother started the relationship with disappointment, he said “He was born when I was six, from the outside, a disappointment” =-0(Hurst, 174).He gave Doodle no chance or opportunity to prove himself. From the get go his pride showed that Doodle was nothing and that he was a disappointment. When Doodle was a baby, Brother got upset with Doodle and he “began to make plans to kill him by smothering him with a ] pillow”(Hurst, 185). This is a prime example of how Brothers pride turned sour. He got so flustered and upset that Doodle wasn’t everything he wanted, that he thought about murdering Doodle. The pride of Brother had bad effects, in that had a role leading to the death of Doodle. Pride is a feeling that you are more conspicuous than other people. In the article “Why Pride is Nothing to Be Proud Of” John Amodeo discusses the meaning of pride and how it differs from dignity. Amedeo says “Pride is often driven by poor-self worth and shame”(Amadeo, 17). The possession of too much pride may be exceedingly stressful since the person is constantly wanting to be be better than other people. Self-worth is a function living with dignity,