Doodle in The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst (Analysis Essay)

đź“ŚCategory: Literature, The Scarlet Ibis
đź“ŚWords: 530
đź“ŚPages: 2
đź“ŚPublished: 14 February 2022

In the short story “Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, the younger, disabled, brother “Doodle” is inadvertently a victim of the older brother’s weaponized disappointment, pride, and refusal to accept his limitations. The narrator and older brother, “Brother”, admitted he was disappointed when his new brother was born weak, frail, and with a heart condition. He looked forward to a brother to climb, run, and play with him, but instead, the younger William Armstrong (“Doodle”) was “from the outset, a disappointment” and not even given the name “William Armstrong” until he was three months old because no one expected him to live very long. His coffin was made almost as soon as he was born. Immediately after birth, no one was positive about William Armstrong’s mental abilities and Brother had a lot of difficulty accepting all his younger brother’s limitations:  “...I began to make plans to kill him by smothering him with a pillow.” However, even though the baby continued to survive, Brother admits the baby’s name, William Armstrong, didn’t really set expectations of a long, fulfilling life either. “They named him William Armstrong, which is like tying a big tail on a small kite. Such a name sounds good only on a tombstone.” Obviously Brother was disappointed with this version of his new brother and renamed him the more appropriate “Doodle”, “because nobody expects much from someone called ‘Doodle’.”  When it looked like Doodle was strong enough to attend school, Brother was annoyed he’d have to take care of Doodle and embarrassed  that the other kids would ridicule Doodle for not being able to walk. Despite the adults’ warnings about Doodle’s frail heart condition, Brother set out to train Doodle to walk “so I won’t have to haul you around all the time.” The more he trained Doodle, the more Doodle could do, which Brother recognized as his own achievement for being a good trainer, not Doodle’s accomplishment of hard work: “It seemed so hopeless from the beginning that it’s a miracle I didn’t give up. But all of us must have something or someone to be proud of, and Doodle had become mine.” When Doodle actually did successfully walk on his sixth birthday, Brother cried because he recognized he only helped Doodle walk in an effort to save himself from the embarrassment and hassle of a crippled baby brother. As they approached the start of school, Brother pushed Doodle’s limits even further, so he would be as strong as the other kids, not bullied. Brother ignored signs Doodle was struggling. Instead he taunted Doodle: “Do you want to be different from everybody else when you start school?” That was the measure of reaching “our pot of gold”. Walking wasn’t just Doodle’s accomplishment. It was also Brother’s. This further proves that Doodle was mostly a project of Brother’s pride. If Brother had accepted Doodle’s impairments and been satisfied with the accomplishments Doodle already made, Doodle could have lived a good life. Instead, Brother pushed him to exhaustion and ultimately left him behind in a rainstorm. Being left behind was Doodle’s greatest fear, yet Brother intentionally outran Doodle, sprinting faster and further knowing it exceeded Doodle’s limits. He left Doodle to die alone in the rain, a harsh death for his failed project. In conclusion, Brother is, without a doubt, guilty of Doodle’s death. Brother’s self-serving arrogance and pride didn’t help Doodle become a stronger kid. His arrogance and pride made Doodle die.

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