In “The Scarlet Ibis”, by James Hurst, the depressing mood is supported by the literary elements setting and symbolism. In the story, the narrator’s brother Doodle, is born with both mental and physical problems. Because of this, from the start, the narrator is angry and embarrassed of his brother and only becomes more ashamed as the years go on. Doodle’s medical issues did not affect the narrator’s decision on teaching him how to go about a normal person's daily activities like walking or swimming… the narrator just wanted a regular brother. Later in the story Doodle discovers a red bird and watches it fall to its death, much like Doodle would do in the end of the story. The story ends with the narrator running away from his brother in spite of him, leaving him alone in a storm to die (just like the …show more content…
The main symbol that helps to support this mood, is the color red. The color red represents many different objects throughout the story such as the bird and blood, to help produce the overall depressing effect. The red bird is used to represent Doodle in the story. At the end of the story, when Doodle is lying dead the narrator describes his stance as “He lay very awkwardly, with his head thrown far back, making his vermillion neck appear unusually long and slim.” (Hurst 186). This sentence relates to the bird because when the bird fell to its death it was described to have a long neck and thin legs. The overall idea of the bird and doodle is death. So again, the idea of death comes in, creating a depressing mood. Next, the narrator compares blood, which has a negative impact on the reader to something beautiful like a tree. He does this by calling the tree a “bleeding tree” (Hurst 175). Overall, the idea of death reappears a few times throughout the story, and because of this, it generates a depressing mood. The symbolism in “The Scarlet Ibis” helps support the