Theme of Pride in The Scarlet Ibis Essay Example

What do you think of pride? Is it a good trait to feel often, or one that does more harm than good? “The Scarlet Ibis” is about a young boy who is embarrassed by his challenged brother and pushes him to become something he is not just because of his own pride. James Hurst uses characterization to highlight the central idea that pride can be both positive and negative.

The author writes “But all of us must have something or someone to be proud of, and Doodle had become mine” (3). This information emphasizes the positives of pride and directly characterizes Brother as prideful of Doodle. Due to Brother’s pride, he has something to be fulfilled by while helping his brother accomplish the most that he possibly can. As brother decided he would teach Doodle to walk amongst other physical activities, he no longer felt an immense amount of hatred for Doodle as he once had at the beginning of the story. This highlights how brother being prideful of Doodle was able to change his original opinions of him and realize how special of a brother he is. The text states “Finally, one day, after many weeks of practicing, he stood alone for a few seconds” (3). This statement highlights how pride was able to be a positive factor at the beginning of Doodle's life. As brother’s own pride pushed Doodle to walk, he would become capable of many different things that without this motivation he could only dream of. Doodle's life had been elevated because of brother's pride and his constant belief that Doodle could always improve physically on behalf of his medical condition. This information further highlights the indirect characterization of Doodle as he never gave up despite his challenges. 

The author continues to use characterization to highlight the negative qualities of pride. According to the text “They did not know that I did it for myself, that pride whose slave I was, spoke to me louder than all their voices” (3). This statement highlights how pride has become a negative factor in Brother's life. As Brother had just taught Doodle to walk and showcased this phenomenon to their family, he realized that he had begun to lose control over what was wrong and what was right because of his pride. When the author describes Brother as a slave to his own pride, readers are able to understand the severity of his pride which later turned to infallibility. The evidence is able to indirectly characterize Brother as self-centered due to the fact that he only helped Doodle in an effort to be less embarrassed by him. The author states “He had failed and we both knew it, so we started back home [...] We never spoke (What are the words that can solder cracked pride?)” (6). This information displays how Brother’s pride ultimately led to Doodle’s downfall. As he and Doodle had just finished a training exercise, Brother’s pride quickly became annoyed when Doodle was not able to finish the task. This fact led Brother to begin running away from Doodle despite there being a traumatic storm in their midst and ultimately killing Doodle in the process. This evidence from the text further highlights the negative traits of pride as in a situation, Brother was unable to swallow his own pride and help his brother when he needed it most. The statement indirectly characterizes Brother’s selfishness caused by his pride and contributes to the negative attributes of this emotion. Pride, in the end, made Brother crueler than he ever could have been and led him to his brother's own death.