Who Is The Protagonist In The Scarlet Ibis
Brother the main character in the the Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst has many problems. Most of these problems relate to his brother Doodle who is physically challenged. Throughout the story Brother tries to help Doodle with his weaknesses, but forgets to care about his own. Brother's mistreatment of Doodle eventually allows Brother to recognize his own weakness. First of all, when brother teaches Doodle to walk he decides to teach him to, "Swim until he turned blue and until he couldn't lift an oar"(Hurst 180).
In the “Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, Brother’s personality allows him to solely focus on his motivation which is a result of his conflict being Doodle’s disability embarrassing him and the resolution of the conflict of training him until he is able to perform normally as someone his age. Brother’s personality traits include him being perseverant, naive, insecure and apprehensive. Brother’s insecurity and apprehensiveness cultivates the conflict of him being ashamed of Doodle’s inability to perform like a normal child. This insecurity and apprehensiveness of his also motivates him to train Doodle to be able to perform tasks, which is his resolution to his conflict. Furthermore, Brother’s perseverance motivates him to continue to cultivate
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
By employing the use of conflict and similes, the author reveals Doodle’s determination and fragility. The use of conflict shows how Doodle is determined because the struggle for him to please his brother empowers him to overcome his physical disabilities. Doodle’s brother himself
This same internal conflict gives Brother the intuition to really push Doodle’s limits. If it weren’t for Brother’s unruly pride, which feeds his ego and develops the disappointment that Doodle burdens him with, then Doodle would not have died. The tiring endeavor that Brother is tasked with is recurrent throughout the whole story, as he faces hardship when it comes to accepting Doodle both as a fellow human being and a sibling of the same blood. During the beginning of the flashback, the first time Brother refused to embrace Doodle’s existence, the obvious frustration that Brother experiences becomes known as he struggles with having a brother with a disability: “It was bad enough having an invalid brother, but having one who possibly was not all there was unbearable, so I began to make plans to kill him by smothering him with a pillow” (2). Hurst presents the external conflict, Brother’s efforts to change Doodle, and the internal conflict, Brother’s issues with accepting Doodle, which makes the reader’s opinion of Brother dramatically shift.
The Death of Doodle The allegory The Scarlet Ibis by James Huster is about 2 brothers. , you should know That 1 brother is named doodle and he’s not that strong and his other brother is pushing him to hard he is the oldest and he does not like his brother (Hurst). In my opinion, I think that he’s not a good brother and is selfish.
Imagine if you just learned something new and the person you trust most leaves you at the most important time. Or if you are in a situation where you are learning how to walk and get left behind to die. Well, that is exactly what happened to Doodle in “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst. The older brother is responsible for Doodle’s death because he left him behind. The first reason the older brother is responsible for Doodle’s death is because the older brother did not listen to Doodle when he said he was too tired for a lesson, and tried to push him too hard.
Doodle decided, whether out of loyalty or personal aspirations, to force himself to learn how to do what his brother could actively do. Furthermore, critics of the brother, will state that Doodle’s death was caused by the narrator abandoning Doodle in the storm. At first glance, one would agree with the above statement. Nevertheless, one must take into consideration the fact that the narrator is a young boy who is still coming to terms with his brother’s invalidity. He is still not able to decipher Doodle’s special needs.
Brother cannot fathom the reality of having an abnormal sibling. Brother uses his pride as a way to help Doodle succeed, but Brother only did it because of the embarrassment and disappointment that Doodle is. In James Hurst’s, The Scarlet Ibis, Hurst insinuates that pride is controlling Brother when he thinks to himself, “They did not know that I did it for myself; that pride whose slave i was…” (Hurst 218). In the quote, Brother is taken over by his selfish pride.
The story of The Scarlet Ibis begins with the narrator describing some background of Doodle, who was once known as William Armstrong. We are informed that Doodle has certain conditions that makes him physically and mentally disadvantaged. The narrator is noble to start with as he cares and sympathizes with Doodle. “Doodle was my brother and he was going to cling to me forever… I dragged him across the burning cotton field to share with him the only beauty I know, Old Woman Swamp” (3).
Two brothers create a special bond but later learn it is not that way. “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst is a story that contains the main character, Brother, and his little brother, Doodle, who struggles physically. Throughout the story Doodle was put to the test by brother physically and sometimes emotionally. Brother did this in pride and learned that pride led to Doodle's Death. The author conveys the feeling of desolation and it is shown by point of view, character dialogue, character actions.
“The Scarlet Ibis”, by James Hurst, demonstrates the motivation and determination that Brother and Doodle have to accomplish their goals. Brother always wants a brother to play with. However, he finds out that Doodle was a cripple, and that crumbles his hope of having a brother physically capable of being a companion. Brother dislikes carrying him around and taking care of him. As a result, Brother’s prideful nature and his shame of Doodle motivates him to teach Doodle how to walk.
Doodle surmounts his struggle of not knowing how to walk by learning how to. Doodle is an adherent of his older brother because he wants to be like him. The narrator is very irate when he finds out his brother is different and “isn’t all there.”
He is the accidental killer of his brother pushed to this state by his and societies best and worst qualities. The Brother (the narrator) is compelled to teach and kill Doodle by the two pillars of his character; and the character of man: ambition and arrogance. The narrator is annoyed from the beginning of Doodle’s birth, he holds only contempt for his new sibling. Not because he does not want a sibling, but because he wants one the that can lend to his ambitions and further his goal of progress and greatness.
Would you leave your invalid little brother behind for dead? The narrator of “The Scarlet Ibis” sure did. Doodle was born when the narrator was six years old. Doodle was a very fragile child who could not participate in many activities and this disappointed the narrator. After growing up a little together, the narrator tries to “help” Doodle become more normal so he could have a brother to go on adventures with.
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