Doodle, a young disabled boy, is a burden to his Brother . Brother, is very ashamed and embarrassed of Doodle. The story “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst shows how Doodle is like the Scarlet Ibis. Doodle and the Scarlet Ibis have many of the same conflicts and repeating actions in the story. In “The Scarlet Ibis,” Hurst develops the symbolism, which is shown through birds, death, and the color red shows how fragile Doodle really is during his lifetime. One example of Hurst showing symbolism in the story is through birds. Doodle and the scarlet ibis are both graceless and very weak. The scarlet ibis tries to fly, but fails to do so. “At that moment the bird began to flutter, but the wings were uncoordinated, and amid much flapping and a spray of feathers, it tumbled down, bumping through the limbs of the bleeding tree and landing at our feet with a thud” (Hurst 321). Doodle is comparable to the scarlet ibis. He is very clumsy, and looked down upon by his family. They believed that he was not going to live. He is shown through the scarlet ibis because the bird is also very weak, like Doodle. They both have come over many obstacles to be alive. But still, you never know if something so little to you, could break something so fragile like a Scarlet Ibis. In the story after Doodle dies. It talks about how empty the house was. “...the oriole nest in the elm was untenanted and rocked back and forth like an empty cradle” (Hurst 315). Now that the birds are gone and the tree is not occupied, it is like the empty cradle in the house now that Doodle is gone. He is shown through the birds. Doodle is just like the birds leaving their home. And now that Doodle is gone, it is a very empty sensation lingering in the home he once lived in. Doodle is symbolically a bird in the story the Scarlet Ibis because he is very weak and fragile, just like the bird.
Hurst develops the idea of death, and it is symbolic towards Doodle and his family. The idea of death has come over Doodle’s family. Doodle is the smell drifting across the cotton field into the room. “The last graveyard flowers were blooming, and their smell drifted across the cotton field and through every room of our house, speaking softly the names of our dead”
The story of the scarlet ibis (a type of bird) directly parallels that of Doodle, as both fall victim to forces outside their own control. The scarlet ibis is not native to North America, but it appears one day in the yard of the boys’ home nevertheless, having been carried there by a storm. Brother observes that the bird is beautiful and graceful, but when it attempts to fly its wings are mangled, and it crashes to the ground, dead. Doodle seems to be the only character who truly acknowledges the tragedy of the bird’s death, and he solemnly buries it. Like the ibis, Doodle’s limbs are “uncoordinated,” causing him to fall often. Also like the ibis, Doodle’s death at the end of the story is the direct result of a storm. When Brother discovers Doodle lifeless in the forest, he acknowledges the connection between Doodle and the bird. The scarlet ibis thus represents how something fragile and beautiful can be lost so easily.
Hurst refers to death explicitly and implicitly throughout “The Scarlet Ibis,” using foreshadowing, the symbolism of the ibis itself, and allusions to the Biblical story of Cain and Abel. These devices give the story an allegorical dimension, demonstrating that often the most innocent people die not because they deserve to die, but because of the carelessness and wrongdoing of others. The story contains several examples of foreshadowing of Doodle’s untimely death. For instance, when Doodle is born, Doodle’s parents assume that he will not live and have a small coffin built for him, which continues to haunt Doodle as a “memento mori” long after he has outgrown it. Similarly, Brother menacingly remarks that Doodle’s real name (William Armstrong) only sounds good on a tombstone. Together, these references serve to imbue the story with an atmosphere of death, constantly reminding readers of the eeriness and sadness of premature death.
The primary symbol at work in the story, the scarlet ibis, directly parallels Doodle in its journey and serves as an omen of his own fate as it falls victim to forces outside its control. The scarlet ibis—a bird not native to North America, making sightings of it incredibly rare—appears one day in the yard of the boys’ home, having been carried there by a storm. Brother observes that the bird is beautiful and graceful, but when it attempts to fly its wings are mangled, and it crashes to the ground. He wonders “how many miles it had traveled to die like this, in our yard, beneath the bleeding tree.” After Brother discovers Doodle lifeless in the forest, he acknowledges his brother’s connection to the bird. Doodle progresses so far past the limitations imposed on him by his disability, only to be overwhelmed by his own storm and at the very end of the story.
“The Scarlet Ibis” also parallels, in some ways, the Biblical story of Cain and Abel, in which Cain kills his younger brother Abel out of jealousy and spite. When God asks where Abel is, he responds, “am I my brother’s keeper?” and when God discovers what has happened, Cain is sent into exile. Although the motivations are different, there are clear connections between the stories. Most of The Scarlet Ibis takes place in a pastoral setting in which the boys roam free, but the opening (which occurs chronologically after Doodle has died) describes a vision of decaying nature, implying that Brother has left the idyllic world of his childhood behind. Brother betrays Doodle and causes his death, illustrating the same moral message as the Bible story: we must all behave like our brother’s keepers. These allusions, combined with the symbol of the ibis and the moments of foreshadowing, strengthen the reader’s understanding of Doodle as a tragic figure of innocence whose life is crushed by the selfishness and blindness of those around him.
In James Hurst’s short story “The Scarlet Ibis,” the narrator’s remorseful attitude towards Doodle’s death is illustrated through the utilization of foreshadowing and flashback. This is made evident through the passing of the scarlet ibis and the narrator’s own prideful behavior and faith in his infallibility. The scarlet ibis that symbolizes Doodle with its death is incorporated into the foreseeable outcome of the end of Doodle’s life, and the indication of the narrator’s future guilt is manifested through his reminiscence of cruelty he displayed towards Doodle in his past. The significance of the appearance of the bird is emphasized alongside specific characteristics to foreshadow Doodle’s own fate, followed by the narrator’s guilt.…show more content…
After Doodle buries the ibis, he is invited to dessert, yet denies this offer, announcing that “‘[he was] not hungry’” (562). As animals often forgo consuming food before death, this notion can be interpreted into a prediction that Doodle would soon die. The narrator’s Aunt Nicey is prompted to declare that “‘dead birds [are] bad luck, [especially] red dead birds’“(562). It foreshadows the narrator’s remorse by integrating Doodle’s death with the superstition of misfortune and the color red. In the following events, Doodle dies from exhaustion under a red nightshade bush containing poisonous berries, symbolizing death and forcing the narrator to regret the spite in him that led to his brother’s demise. The scarlet color of the bird contrasts with the shade of blood that is shown through the end of Doodle’s life. Hurst describes Doodle with “his head thrown far back, making his vermillion neck appear unusually long and slim” (564), which in comparison resembles the bird’s long neck and creates a similarity between Doodle and the ibis. To recapitulate, the parting of the scarlet ibis is used to portray an adversity that later reveals itself to be the death of the narrator’s