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Ambition In The Scarlet Ibis

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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. …show more content…

“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

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In “The Scarlet Ibis”, James Hurst shows that one should not take the easy way out by submitting to one’s obstacles because in the end, it won’t be worth it. “I heaved him up again collapsed… ‘I just can’t do it.’ [Doodle says]” (Hurts 598). An example of the theme is when Doodle submits to his obstacle, which is his brother setting a goal for him he doesn’t care to achieve. By not facing his problems, The narrator’s younger brother’s problems get worse, and somewhat lead to his death.

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At a young age Doodle wants to go with his brother everywhere: “To discourage him coming with me, I’d run with him across the ends of the cotton rows and carren him around corners on two wheels” ( Hurst 465). When Doodle was five, his older brother was embarrassed with having a brother you could not walk. So he helped his brother learn, after a few weeks of trying to stand up. On Doodle’s sixth birthday he walked: “That Doodle only walked because I was ashamed of having a crippied brother” (468). After that, he wants to teach Doodle to swim and climb but before they can do that a storm comes.

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So this why I think the narrator's intentions were true a first then later it became for his own satisfaction. If he accepted for who he was and not what the narrator wanted maybe he still would have been alive till this date. It's also true that if it wasn’t for the narrator doodle wouldn’t be able to walk but at least he would be

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In “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst the older brother is responsible for Doodle’s death, he is responsible for Doodles death because of him being ashamed of Doodle and leaving him behind, for example the brother was ashamed of Doodle’s disability and wished he was normal, so he taught Doodle to walk for his benefit, the author writes in this short story “they didn’t know that I did it just for myself, that Doodle walked only because I was ashamed of having a crippled brother” (Hurst, 2) the older having a crippled brother, so he runs as fast as he can knowing Doodle cannot run very well, causing Doodle to panic and die. The brother is responsible because he ran in the storm, leaving Doodle behind, he knew he didn’t teach doodle very well,

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In the short story “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, there are many kind and helpful actions done, but the torturous ones that Doodle’s older brother plans and executes surpass them all. For example, Brother starts to realize his feelings for Doodle soon after he is born and decides “ to kill him by smothering him with a pillow” (175). Not only is this cruel, but it is horrible to think that someone would want to harm a relative in that way. Being so young also means that Doodle would not be able to do anything to defend his life. In addition, the narrator pushes his brother’s physical abilities by making him swim until he appeared blue, row more than his muscles could manage, and walk faster than recommended (180).

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In “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, the narrator is an abuser to his younger brother Doodle. For example, a few weeks before school was to begin, Doodle experiences sleepless nights and wakes up crying from nightmares as a result of his brother’s goal to teach Doodle to walk. It is understandable to try and have Doodle learn to walk day by day, but the stress Doodle is under to please his brother shows how the narrator puts his own pride above Doodle’s well-being. Considering that the narrator doesn’t take Doodle’s responses to his activities into account as he teaches, the narrator knows no boundaries as to what is helpful and what is treated as abuse. In addition, the narrator runs out of Horseshoe Landing leaving Doodle alone in the rain

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Scarlet Ibis “Selfish people tend to only be good to themselves… then are surprised when they are alone”,(unknown).This is how Brother found himself when he abandoned Doodle during a storm. In The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst a child named William Armstrong (Doodle) is born with a medical condition who revokes him the ability to walk. But the selfishness, his Brother has been blinded by makes him want to teach his Brother to walk out of embarrassment “of having a crippled brother.” Therefore Brother is two faced he can be selfish or he can be altruistic to Doodle, which demonstrates how complex brotherly love can be.

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“He might not, she sobbed, even be all there.” (line 35-36) Mother was so worried about Doodle’s flaws she never took the time to see his strengths. On the other hand Brother wanted Doodle to be able to function the way he does and when Doodle couldn’t, he took it upon himself to harm him. Mother and Brother never took the time to accept Doodle’s unique characteristics.

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In “The Scarlet Ibis”, by James Hurst, a narrator tells a story in flashback of his childhood experiences with his brother, Doodle. He makes us aware of how Doodle was expected to die because of his weak heart, but he lived. Doodle learned to crawl, but he couldn’t walk or do many of the most common physical activities because of his disability. When Doodle was five, Brother taught him to walk and they decided to set a deadline of when Doodle should be able to box, run, swim, and row a boat. They struggled to reach the deadline and the work was very laborious for Doodle.

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There are 56.7 million people in the United States have a physical disability, that is 19 percent of the population of the whole country. Imagine each and every one of those people being hated and shamed by their family, specifically their older siblings. Older siblings are supposed to be a role model for the younger children in the family but in “The Scarlet Ibis” the narrator was a prideful, spiteful, and murderous person who held shame and hate in his heart for his invalid younger brother. The narrator was the older brother to an invalid child who could not even walk, yet the narrator hated him for what he was and felt shame that he had to associate with a kid such as his brother. The narrator was the cause of his younger brother’s death

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The narrator didn’t really love Doodle, was cruel to him, and thought him how to stuff out of his own selfishness, so thank to the gift of pride, the narrator is guilty for the murder of his brother Doodle. The narrator despised Doodle. When Doodle was born and alive- against what the doctor said- the narrator says, "I began to make plans to kill him by smothering him with a pillow" (Hurst 345). The narrator wants to kill his brother because he realized he would not die and because of that, won't be able to do anything physically like brothers do together.

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But that didn’t stop him. Doodle’s brother suggested the idea of learning how to walk, and even though Doodle didn’t want to, his brother made him, anyways. “Doodle was both tired and frightened, and when he stepped from the skiff, he collapsed onto mud.” (11) Brother had pushed Doodle too hard, so he was fatigued, but also frightened of the storm. It wasn’t safe at all for his brother to be all alone, teaching him to be active.

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The Narrator in “The Scarlet Ibis” is undoubtedly responsible for his brothers’ death. The Narrator pushes doodle too hard all while ignoring

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Crawling backwards made him look like a Doodlebug, […] because nobody expects much from someone called Doodle.” Society’s attentiveness is predominantly towards the aspects of and in this story Doodle’s impairment seemed to have negative impacts on him that the society has caused. His brother saw him as a burden in many ways. Doodle must be treated gently as he was forbidden from certain activities and conditions, at the same time he was embarrassed to have a crippled brother at the age

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Eventually the narrator taught Doodle to walk, then decided to teach Doodle other abilities that would make Doodle be considered “Normal.” The narrator was so engrossed in this task that he did not notice that Doodle could not keep up. “I made him swim until he turned blue and row until he couldn't lift an oar. Wherever we went, I purposely walked fast, and although he kept up, his face turned red and his eyes became glazed. Once, he could go no further, so he collapsed on the ground and began to cry.”

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