Scarlet Ibis Theme

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James Hurst’s short story “The Scarlet Ibis” is a story about a narrator and his disabled brother. The brother Doodle is born disabled, and the narrator does not like the way his brother is because he cannot run,box, or sit in a big oak tree with him. When Doodle is five years old, the narrator makes a plan to teach him how to walk so he will not have to pull him around in his go cart. Later, he plans to teach him how to swim and row a boat, but Doodle fails this big test. The narrator leaves him behind in disappointment, and Doodle later dies. The main issue in the story is that the narrator is not happy for what he has; he does not like the way his brother is and he tries to make Doodle do what he can do. He never thinks that one day soon …show more content…
The narrator continues to show that he does not appreciate his brother. He 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 be treated gently. A long list of don'ts went with him, all of which I ignored once we got out of the house” (Hurst). The narrator does not like the idea of taking his brother with him because they really cannot do things together. The other part that the theme shows up in the middle of the story is where the narrator is cruel to Doodle. He says, “ ‘Then I’ll leave you here by yourself,’ I threatened, and made as if I were going down. Doodle was frightened of being left. ‘Don’t leave me, Brother,’ he cried, and leaned toward the coffin. His hand, trembling, reached out, and when he touched the casket, he screamed. A screech owl flapped out of the box into our faces, scaring us and covering us with Paris green. (Hurst) The narrator is cruel to Doodle because Doodle would not do what he wanted him to do like touch the coffin and threatened to leave him all alone if he did not touch it. This part of the story shows how the narrator takes Doodle for granted by telling Doodle what the narrator wants Doodle to do and leaving him because Doodle did not want to do …show more content…
We were down in Old Woman Swamp and it was spring and the sick- sweet smell of bay flowers hung everywhere like a mournful song. "I'm going to teach you to walk, Doodle," I said. He was sitting comfortably on the soft grass, leaning back against the pine. "Why?" he asked. I had not expected such an answer. "So I won't have to haul you around all the time." This proves that he didn’t really like the way his brother was also he didn’t have to pull him around in the go cart so he demanded to walk him so he is not embarrassed to have a brother that cannot walk. So when the narrator succeeded at teaching Doodle how to walk the narrator teaches him some more things. “I made him swim until he turned blue and row until he couldn't lift an oar. Wherever we went, I purposely walked fast, and although he kept up, his face turned red and his eyes became glazed. Once, he could go no further, so he collapsed on the ground and began to cry. "Aw, come on, Doodle," I urged. "You can do it. Do you want to be different from everybody else when you start school?" "Does it make any difference?" "It certainly does," I said. "Now, come on," and I helped him up.” The narrator still did not like the way he was so he was gonna try and teach him more that he could handle
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