Ambition In The Scarlet Ibis

When reality does not meet our expectations does that give us the right to simply throw it aside, or abuse the reality we were given? The narrator of “The Scarlet Ibis” was six years old when Doodle was born, he had many dreams of what they would do together and all the adventures they would take. Doodle was born as a weak, frail baby, his parents expected him to die very quickly. He survived when everyone doubted that he would and he grew to be a weak, frail child that was alive, withstanding his limitations. The narrator had illusions of the missed adventures and tried still, to achieve them even though his brother was oftentimes physically unable. The narrator is responsible for his brother’s death because he allowed his own pride and embarrassment drive him to push Doodle because he was not the same as the other children, he was aggressive toward Doodle and at times abusive, and pushed Doodle too far and didn’t understand his limitations.

“He was born when I was six, from the outset, a disappointment”. (Hurst, 350) from the moment Doodle was born he was viewed as not good enough for the narrator. The narrator had longings of what a brother would be like, when his new brother was physically incapable to live up to his desire he tried to change him out of pridefulness. Embarrassment and pride were the only reasons that Doodle was taught to walk, not because the narrator thought he was able. “Shut up, I’m not going to hurt you, I’m going to teach you to walk” (Hurst, 354) Doodle’s disability was not something he could ‘fix’, and on account of his brothers ego, Doodle was pushed too far, thus ultimately he could be pushed no