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The Scarlet Ibis William Armstrong Character Analysis

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“The Scarlet Ibis” is about a young boy named William Armstrong, and his healthy, older brother, the narrator. When William Armstrong was first born he was very fragile, and his head was bigger than his body. When William Armstrong was first born his family did not think he would live very long, so his parents was not going to name him. Then after he stayed alive for 3 months they decided to name him. Then his brother, the narrator, decided to rename him because the name sounded too much like a name on a tombstone, so he renamed him Doodle. The essay will be about the appearance, behavior, thoughts, feelings, and motivations of the narrator and Doodle The narrator’s behavior was very selfish at the beginning of the story. He wanted to teach Doodle, so he wouldn’t embarrass him. Then after he realized that Doodle really did need the help, he decided to teach him.Then he realized he shouldn’t be ashamed of who his family is, so he decided to embrace Doodle. So he started to help Doodle, and began to teach him how to walk, run, and even swim. …show more content…

Doodle talked so much that his family had to just ignore him most of the time. At the beginning of the story Doodle could not walk, and then his brother decided to teach him. When his brother first decided to teach him how to walk he didn’t think he was strong enough, and he wanted to give up. Doodle did not think he was strong enough to walk, and he didn’t think he needed to learn. A motivation for Doodle to learn was when his brother took him to see the casket his parents bought for him when he was a baby, and they didn’t think he was going to live. Another motivation was Doodle had always wanted to be like his brother, and to please

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“Every day that summer… I put him on his feet at least a hundred times. ”(James Hurst 354) Doodle will not quite until his goal is accomplished and then he will not stop working to get better. He also did not want to let his brother down. His brother wanted Doodle to learn to walk so he would not have a brother that could not walk. “Wherever we went I purposely walked fast, and although he kept up his face turned red…”(Hurst 357)

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Brother was not going to let doodle stand out from everyone so he taught him many things like how to swim, walk, and row a boat. Doodle meant a lot to brother so brother wanted to help teach him things. ”I gave him swimming lessons or showed him how to row a boat. Sometimes we descended into the cool greenness of Old Woman Swamp and climbed the rope vines or boxed scientifically beneath the pine where he had learned to walk”(Hurst 4).

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Why do people hurt the one’s they love? People everywhere do things to family that they reget, same as in this story. The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst, a young kid has a baby brother. He is very happy because he wants someone to play with him. When his brother is born, he is a cripple.

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Just imagine if you were born with not being able you to do any physical activities. Doodle, also known as William Armstrong, was born just like this. The narrator, which is Doodle’s brother, is very proud of what Doodle has accomplished over the past three years of his rough life. There is a plan for the narrator and Doodle to make his life better, maybe even more than one plan. Doodle is a disappointment to the family, until he does physical activities with his brother.

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Brother was self-absorbed because he tried not to have Doodle come with him everywhere. He was mad about having to follow all the rules so he discouraged Doodle from even coming. Another example was when Brother taught Doodle how to walk because he did not like having a brother who was different, but in the happiness of the moment when Doodle could finally walk, he thought, “They did not know that I did it for myself; that pride. ”(347) This shows that he taught Doodle to walk to benefit for himself.

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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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Doodle was very determined and wanted to please his brother and “Finally one day, after many weeks of practicing, he stood alone for a few seconds”(467). Due to many trials and errors, he eventually learned how to stand alone. Doodle’s persistence had helped him achieve one of his goals. Doodle became tenacious of his newly found ability and “Within a few months Doodle had learned to walk well and his go-cart was put up in the barn loft” (468). This proves that Doodle was incessant and practiced enough to the point where he had learned to walk well.

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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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Pride is Ignorance Disability is a physical or mental condition that limits a person's movement, senses, or activities. " The Scarlet Ibis," a short story written by James Hurst, focuses on the relationship between two brothers: the narrator and his disabled brother, Doodle. Doodle is born when the narrator, Brother, is only six years old. Since the narrator is young and does not know how to cope with a situation like this, he plans to kill Doodle. The prideful narrator wants a brother he can play with and is disappointed and embarrassed that he will not be like a regular boy.

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Brother planned to spend his entire life with Doodle, They "decided that when [they] were grown [they'd] live in Old Woman Swamp and pick dog-tongue" (Hurst). He wanted Doodle to have pride in himself and be able to do everything Brother wanted to do with him. Brother had pride in Doodle since he was first able to stand on his own and walk. He taught Doodle out of his own selfishness, he was ashamed of having an "invalid" brother and wanted to have "someone to race to Horsehead Landing, someone to box with, and someone to perch within the top fork of the great pine behind the barn, where across the fields and swamps you could see the sea" (Hurst). Brother was ashamed of the way he felt and his self-indulgent efforts for Doodle.

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Arab Open University Faculty of Language Studies Tutor Marked Assignment (TMA) EL121: The Short Story and Essay Writing Fall Semester 2015-2016 Part (I): STUDENT INFORMATION (to be completed by student) 1.

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“I know that in writing the following pages I am divulging the great secret of my life, the secret which for some years I have guarded far more carefully than any of my earthly possessions; and it is a curious study to me to analyze the motives which prompt me to do it. I feel that I am led by the same impulse which forces the un-found-out criminal to take somebody into his confidence, although he knows that the act is likely, even almost certain, to lead to his undoing. I know that I am playing with fire, and I feel the thrill which accompanies that most fascinating pastime; and, back of it all, I think I find a sort of savage and diabolical desire to gather up all the little tragedies of my life, and turn them into a practical joke on society”

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“I did not know then that pide is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines, life and death” (Hurst 354). Unfortunately in the “Scarlet Ibis” Doodle was killed at the hands of pride owned by his own brother. When Doodle was born he had a condition that made him extremely fragile. His older brother was very ashamed of him. When Doodle was older the narrator thought that despite what the doctor had said he would teach him how to do things that a regular boy could do.

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“The Scarlet Ibis” Literary Analysis Essay As the protagonist unfolds his tale, he paints a picture of himself initially as a malevolent force, planning the smothering death of his crippled brother, to a bully, force-teaching Doodle to walk to satisfy his own ends, and finally a neglectful older brother whose acts lead to Doodle’s demise. It is the central event of his brother’s death that gives full meaning to the title, “The Scarlet Ibis.” In this short story by James Hurst, the author conveys the Narrator’s guilt over Doodle’s life and, more importantly, his death.

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At first the narrator sees Doodle as a crazy frail brother but as we move into the story, we can observe a lot of varying feelings brother has towards Doodle. Brother described Doodle as unbearable, an invalid brother, a brother who was not there at all, so he started

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