Depression In The Scarlet Ibis By James Hurst

Even though the narrator knew what would happen to Doodle if he attempted to perform simple tasks, the narrator still felt obligated to teach Doodle to walk, swim, etc. Doodle would obviously fall when attempting to walk, but the narrator would pressure him into trying again. Stating that he would still have to push him around in a go-cart when they’re old

As the start of the school approaches they are quite far from the goal and a desperations slowly sets in. One stormy day, the narrator and Doodle head to Horsehead Landing for one more attempt to try and finally reach the narrator’s goals. As the storm is approaching it becomes clear to the both brothers that the plans set for Doodle are not achievable and narrator becomes disappointed with his brother and reacts to it by becoming increasing angered towards

The narrator dreamed of a brother that could do all those things but when his parents told him that “he wasn’t all there” he knew he had to do something about it therefore, “When Doodle was five years old, [he] was embarrassed at having a brother of that age that couldn’t walk, so [he] set out to teach him” (Hurst 488). Despite the physical condition with the Doodle , the narrator’s pride wanted him to “fix” him because he was ashamed of the Doodle ever since he was born. The narrator sets time out of his days to help his brother develop physically since Doodle is physically imobile. He goes down to Old Woman Swamp everyday to teach Doodle.

“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.

The Ibis is weak from its extensive travel; it was no longer able to pull through in its final moments. The bird has been thrown into an unfamiliar area from the storm and died a lonely death. The bird struggled so much trying to survive the storm for it to not even pay off in the end, it has tried so hard to live just to pass away. Doodle worked so diligently to survive and crawl when all he had was doubt just to die. The bird had passed on so Doodle took the time to give it a proper burial.

He is ashamed of having a younger brother who can't walk, and he believes that if he can teach Doodle to walk, it will make him look better in the eyes of others. This prideful motivation leads him to push Doodle too hard, which ultimately leads to his death. Love is another theme that runs throughout the story. Despite

The expectations of Doodle's family and society that he should be normal and physically capable led to his brother's insistence on teaching him how to walk, even if it meant pushing Doodle beyond what he could handle. Doodle's inability to walk is not something he believes in himself; rather, it is a limitation imposed on him. In this case, the pressure set to meet societal

The narrator explains how he brought Doodle everywhere, pulling him in a cart and never leaving him behind, which sets him up as caring. But, the author soon reveals more about the narrator as he shows us the first act of pure cruelty the narrator does- shows Doodle his own coffin. The pure relentless nature the narrator shows as he taunts the fact of Doodle’s almost death as an infant sets up the understanding of just how much the narrator is affected by pride to the reader, showing his own desires take over and get this best of him. The narrator states in the text “...I wanted more then anything else to race to Horsehead Landing, someone to box with…” setting his own expectations for doodle. But since Doodle cannot fully live up to these expectations, the narrator grows insecure over Doodle’s own disability, making his pride take over and causing the narrator to be cruel to his brother

The narrator says, “They did not know I did it for myself; that pride, whose slave I was, spoke to me louder than all their voices, and that Doodle walked only because I was ashamed of having a crippled brother. ”(355). He only helped his brother because he was embarrassed by him, so his pride got the best of him. The narrator also says, “Do you want to be different from everybody else when you start school?”(357). Doodle did not care, so yet again the narrator just did not want to be embarrassed by him in front of other people.

In contrast to what his parents did, Doodle's brother totally disregarded him. He was so furious with Doodle that he even went as far as planning to kill him with a pillow. He expects his brother to do fun things with him instead of accepting the fact that he can’t due to his medical conditions. He was so embarrassed about having a brother who couldn’t walk that he tried to change it.

This part shows that the narrator of the story wanted the doodle to walk only because it was embarrassing for him. He wanted a doodle to fit a mold that he can't fit and wanted him to be normal when he was already good. Another example of the theme in the story is when the brother first shows his parents Doodle's progress with his walking, and Doodle tells them that the narrator is the reason he learned to walk. “There wasn't a sound as Doodle walked slowly across the room and sat down at the table.

He says this because he has to haul his brother around everywhere. (In page 1 paragraph 3) he was making plans to kill his brother because he couldn't play with him. He said that having a brother that wasn't there at all was unbearable, since he couldn't handle it he wanted to kill him? (Page 3 paragraph 5) says “ I was crying because doodle only was able to walk because i ashamed having a crippled brother. He only succeeded because he was ashamed because he had a special brother that couldn't walk.

This was a story about what horrible greed can do. Not the type of greed for money, but greed for how you want things to be. It was a mistake to have the brother ever take care of Doodle, even if he was kind the brother had a cold heart. The brother will wanting to be kind was as selfish as selfish could be. In short the brother in Scarlet ibis was kind for the wrong

”(1). This shows that Doodle is letting down his brother, and even family, through his newfound disability; a heart condition, which should’ve been fatal. This triggers the narrator to have a heartless attitude towards

"Doodle!" I screamed above the pounding storm and threw my body to the earth above his. For a long time, it seemed forever, I lay there crying, sheltering my fallen scarlet ibis from the heresy of rain”(Hurst 6).This section shows from the end of Doodle’s life onward Brother has felt guilty. The whole story is Brothers story of the dangers of pride and his personal experience.