...Sneaky Symbols “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst is full of abstract symbolism to help the audience understand the passage clearer. This story is about a disappointed boy who finds out his brother is invalid. The baby by was thought to die at birth, but he ends up living. They named him William Armstrong, but the brother believed that that was a terrible name for a disabled child. Doodle, William’s nickname his brother gave him, could not walk. The boy was determined to teach Doodle how to walk because he thought of Doodle as an embarrassment. The doctors believed Doodle could not be overworked, or he would die. During the training, Doodle could not keep up with his older brother. Doodle fell to the ground from being tired, and slowly died...
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...The Boy with the Scarlet Heart Murder: the unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another. This crime can be committed by a pull on a trigger, a stab from a knife, an addiction birthed by the deadly dance with drugs, a signing of a tear-stained letter, an attempt to fly from a tree too high…... or the abuse of power one presents over a fragile human; neglecting what struggles they face in order to push them to the edge. With every murder, there is a body left with no soul, a killer hiding somewhere dark, and the inevitable destruction of the senses. The latter happens not just to the victim, but their loved ones as well. All they can smell is fresh dirt from the graveyard. All they can hear is their own thoughts drowning in the abyss of their mind. All they can taste is the metallic flavor of blood in their mouth. They touch everything but feel nothing. It’s only their sight that doesn’t fail them. They see everything crystal clear, just painted in a different color: red. It’s the one color that won’t leave their mind, haunting and confusing them with its’ ambiguous nature. Red could mean something...
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...The world has many beautiful things on it, some more beautiful than others, one of those beautiful things is nature. The Scarlet Ibis, written by James Hurst, is told by Doodle the main character’s older brother. The narrator tells about Doodle’s childhood. Doodle was a delicate little boy who had to overcome many challenges in his short life, willing to do anything to be like a normal boy. In “The Scarlet Ibis,” Doodle personifies nature because of the unique characteristics he carries with him. Doodle and the narrator have a connection to a special place, Old Woman Swamp. In the story the author says, “He was a burden in many ways. The doctor had said that he mustn’t get too excited, too hot, too cold, or too tired and that he must always...
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...“The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst is about William Armstrong, also known as Doodle, who had a physical and mental condition. When he was born William’s brother was six years old, and when William died his brother was thirteen. The story is called “The Scarlet Ibis” because the family saw a bird dying in their backyard which was far away from its native land, and William died away from his home. Mr. Hurst was born in North Carolina at a farm by the sea. He studied singing and in Italy and he became a banker. During his thirty four years as a banker he also published a few short stories including “The Scarlet Ibis”. I personally did not like how the story went but I do like how Mr. Hurst wrote it. I also like how he referred the scarlet ibis...
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...short stories “He Hid Behind the Stove,” “The Scarlet Ibis,” and “Harrison Bergeron” all used the literary device of symbolism to augment the story with extra layers of depth, contributing to the overall theme. Firstly, “He Hid Behind the Stove” by Walter Lewis Wilson has the most prominent symbol of the work in...
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...“The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst places a large focus on humanity and the humane treatment of others. In this short story, the narrator mistreats his younger brother in order to make him more like normal boys who can play, run, and swim. However, this backfires as his younger brother Doodle dies from overexertion because the narrator pushes him past his limits. In “The Scarlet Ibis”, the absence of humanity is a large component and is portrayed in the way Doodle is treated by the narrator. In this story, the narrator’s great pride and lack of humanity is what causes Doodle’s death. Because he is so focused on making Doodle like the other children, the narrator forgets that Doodle has feelings and shortcomings. The narrator is “embarrassed...
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...The Scarlet Ibis Have you ever let your pride overcome who you are? Pride allows us to enhance the way we act and look. However, it can cause us to look down upon others when things don’t turn out the way we want it. For instance, “ The Scarlet Ibis” shows how pride can motivate us to strive for achievements and still be the source of harm towards ourselves and our loved ones. The story is told through the brother’s eyes in which he continuously persists his brother, Doodle, into doing “normal kid things,” despite Doodle’s physical limitations. “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst is a story that revolves around pride. To begin with, Doodle’s brother wanted to teach Doodle how to live like a “normal boy.” Doodle’s brother was resolute as he...
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...Point of View How does the point of view change how readers interpret a story? In all actuality, the point of view has one of the biggest impacts on the interpretation of any story. Whether it be told by a character in first person, or told by a narrator in third… the point of view is arguably one of the most crucial factors in any work of writing. “The Scarlet Ibis” is written in first person, meaning that it is told be one of the characters, and expresses their feelings throughout the story. In this case, that character is Brother, a boy who lives in North Caroline with his family. When his mother has another son and Brother becomes a big brother to William Armstrong, later referred to as doodle, Brother’s feelings and emotions truly start...
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...The short story, “The Scarlet Ibis” is about two brothers that overcome adversity. One of the brothers, a mentally challenged boy named doodle learns how to walk with the help of his thirteen year old brother. The author, James Hurst, from the short story, “The Scarlet Ibis” uses diction and figurative language to prove that the character doodle is a clumsy, caring, and scared character. The author uses diction and figurative language to show that doodle is a clumsy person. One example of this is when the author writes, “When he crawled, he crawled backward, as if he were in reverse and couldn't change gears”. The author during this part of the book is using figurative language to further prove his point. Doodle is not actually in reverse like...
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...The Two Meanings of Pride The story, the “Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst is about a young boy teaching his physically disabled brother, Doodle, how to become “normal.” The story surrounds the most powerful emotion, pride. The narrator was full of pride for his brother at times when he abled him to learn new things. The story expresses the idea that it is good to be full of pride for others, however, pushing people past their limits can be harmful. In the “Scarlet Ibis,” Doodle was pushed over his physical limit and suffered consequences. Several quotes in the story draw attention to the emotional theme, pride. Pride comes along with embarrassment. “When Doodle was five years old, I was embarrassed at having a brother of that age who...
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...What makes a person special? Everyone has something about them that makes them unique. People are different in many ways and the most beautiful people in the world are the ones who know they are different and do not look at it in a negative light, but a positive one. In this short story, The Scarlet Ibis, by James Hurst, the character Doodle was portrayed as persevering, imaginative, and saint like. In the short story the author described Doodle as persevering, imaginative, and saint like. Hurst shows that Doodle is persevering by stating in the story, “When he was two, if you laid him on his stomach, he began to move straining himself terribly. The doctor said that with his weak heart this strain would probably kill him, but it didn’t. Trembling, he’d push himself up, turning red first, then a soft purple, and finally collapse back onto the bed like a worn-out doll”(Hurst 464). This is showing that even as an adolescent in unbearable pain, that should have killed him, he still fought to make sure that he could get up on his own. He understood that he has difficulties and hardships, but works through them so maybe one day his problems will be less challenging and less frequent. The author depicted Doodle as imaginative by articulating, “ My lies were scary, involved, and usually pointless, but Doodle’s were...
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...Who is Doodle? Doodle is arguably the most important character in “The Scarlet Ibis.” He is a boy who has had it rough since birth. Born with mental illness, his development as a character is truly amazing. In this story, Doodle is sensitive, unique, and lovable. Doodle is sensitive in many of his own ways. He is sensitive both psychically and mentally. Throughout his whole life, he is almost always psychically ill, but he is also mentally disabled. He also has a very strong and sensitive love for his family, the Narrator especially. Doodle and his brother (“Narrator”) have had a special connection throughout both of their lives. Doodle is also unable to do fairly simple activities. For example, at an early age, if he was placed on his stomach,...
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...Many enjoy ghost stories with haunted houses because of the thrill. Some stories however, include themes of guilt in which a character is haunted by his past. In the short story “The Scarlet Ibis” James Hurst employs flashback and mood to create the emotion of guilt that haunts the narrator. Hurst utilizes flashback by giving a sense of guilt emitting from the narrator. Throughout the story, the author gives examples of the narrator’s selfish actions, which is how he treats his crippled brother, Doodle. Then, Hurst portrays mood by writing the narrator’s thoughts of what horrible actions the narrator did to Doodle. The narrator feels ashamed of having a disabled brother, and feels the need to push Doodle to become “normal”, and this pressure makes the narrator look back and feel guilt. One way the narrator represents guilt is through flashback. Throughout the...
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...contradicts the expectations of the reader. The three types of irony, Verbal, Situational, and Dramatic irony, are used heavily in a variety of short stories to give the story flavor and make it more appealing to the reader. In The Cask of Amontillado by Edgar Allen Poe, The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst, and My Oedipus Complex by Frank O’Connor, all types of irony are used to create foreshadowing, justify the action of characters, and create humor. In The Cask of Amontillado, Montresor seeks to get revenge on Fortunato, since Fortunato has supposedly wronged Montresor in some way. Throughout Montresor’s quest...
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...Scarlet Ibis Defense Case. Good morning ladies and gentlemen of the jury. I am here to defend this 12 year old boy accused of manslaughter. This trial is deciding whether this 12 year old boy should go to jail for “murdering” a child that was supposed to die at birth and wasn't expected to live beyond the age of 3 months. This child had serious health issues. He wasn’t expected to even crawl. But before his death he had learned how to walk, run, swim, and even row a boat, living way beyond his expected lifespan and doing things that nobody ever imagined he could do. Almost all of these achievements were because of this child in the courtroom with us today. This child taught his disabled little brother how to walk,...
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