Scarlet Ibis Pride Quotes

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John Ruskin- “ It is better to lose your pride with someone you love rather than to lose that someone you love with your useless pride.” This quote applies to the short story “The Scarlet Ibis”, written by James Hurst, because the story is consumed about pride. Brother’s actions toward Doodle, his younger brother, show it. Pride is defined as “ The trait of being spurred on by a dislike of falling below your standards.” Doodle is born physically handicapped and has many struggles throughout his life trying to do everyday things like walking or just being a kid. His older brother is cruel to him but Doodle responds by thriving and becoming more capable of everyday activities in spite of the treatment, until he dies trying to please Brother. In other words, life is too short to allow the trivialities to become the issues because of …show more content…
Moreover the story states “ When Doodle was five years old, I was embarrassed at having a brother of that age who couldn't walk, so I set out to teach him.” From this quote, the reason Brother helped Doodle was because of his pride and embarrassment. Another example is when Brother says “I wanted more than anything else someone to race to Horsehead Landing, someone to box with, and someone to perch with in the top fork of the great pine behind the barn, where across the fields and swamps you could see the sea. I wanted a brother.” In other words, Brother was embarrassed to have a five year old brother that couldn’t walk. He spent his time teaching Doodle to walk because he wanted it to seem like he had a normal brother. Brother’s motive was to make himself seem normal, not to make his brother feel better about himself. Brother wanted someone who could run and jump and play with him; instead he got the fragile Doodle. His pride was the reason he helped Doodle. As the story continues, Doodle becomes sick to the point where the doctor says he might die, however,