James Hurst’s story “The Scarlet Ibis” Essay

It is said that you never really appreciate something fully until it is gone. This is shown in James Hursts story, The Scarlet Ibis. This story takes place in the duncish South after World War II, and is told through the eyes of comrade, one of Hursts fictional characters. Brother tells the story of his invalid younger brother, scrawl. In The Scarlet Ibis prevalentity comes with a price. Brothers pride both helps and hurts doodle. Brother is ashamed of Doodles weaknesses. He always wished for a normal brother it was bad enough having an invalid brother, but having one who possibly was not all there was unbearable, so I began to make plans to kill him by smothering him with a pillow Pg. 317. This sentence reveals that Brother didnt try to put in time to shape Doodle into the brother he wanted. Instead, the scarce thing he did was to make plans to kill Doodle so that he wouldnt present an invalid brother.He was a burden in many another(prenominal) ways. The doctor had said that he mustnt get too excited, too hot, too cold, or too tired, and that he must always be interact gently. A long list of donts went with him, all of which I ignored once we got out of the house. To discourage him coming with me, Id run with him across the ends of the cotton rows and careen him around corners on two wheels. Sometimes I accidently turned him over, but he never told Mama Pg. 317. We can see from this get out that Doodle looks up to Brother and enjoys spending time with him, however Brother resents being burdened by Doodle and attempts to flip the go-kart Doodle is being transported in so that he will not be burdened by his company when he goes on outdoor excursions. This is within me (and with sadness I have watched it n others) a knot of cruelty borne by the stream of love, much as our blood sometimes bears the seed of our destruction, and at times I was immoral to Doodle.One day I took him up to the barn loft and showed him his casket, telling him how we all had b elieved he would die. It was covered with a film of paris green, sprinkled to kill the rats and howler owls, which had built a nest in brass it. Doodle studied the mahogany box for a long time, then said, Its not mine, It is, I said. And before Ill help you down from the loft, youre going to have to touch it Pg. 318. This proves that Brother pressurizes Doodle into doing things that Doodle would otherwise not do. An example of this is how Brother uses Doodles fear of the attic to force him to touch the coffin, a coffin that had been made for Doodle himself, as e realone predicted he would not live very long. Brothers sometimes bullying behavior affected doodle both physically and emotionally.Brother behavior toward Doodle is inconsistent however and he does many good things, too. He helps Doodle become normal and to be able to do things that people thought were impossible for Doodle to do. When Doodle was flipper years old, I was embarrassed at having a brother of that age that co uldnt walk, so I set out to teach him Pg. 318. This reveals that Brother has ruth for Doodle helping him become the best he can be. Instead of just hiding Doodle at home, which would have been more convenient for him to do, he takes him out in the community. Once I had succeeded in teaching Doodle to walk, I began to believe in my own infallibility and I prepared a intense development program for him, unknown to mama and Daddy, of course. I would teach him to run, to swim, to climb trees and to fight, he, too, now believed in my infallibility, so we set the deadline for these accomplishments less than a year away, when, it had been decided, Doodle would start school Pg. 320.This teaches us that Brother wants to aid Doodle in learning and living his life to the fullest possible extent, despite not having the physical and kind abilities that we take for granted. After we had drifted a long way, I put the oars in place and Doodle row back against the tide Pg. 322 Brother wants to pu sh Doodle and make him do something, which even by normal standards, would be challenging but even more difficult for Doodle because of his disabilities. These actions show a kinder side to Brother, a side that wishes to help and nurture his brother. Brothers actions towards doodle are conflicting. Was it better for Doodle to live a short more adventuresome life, or was it better for Doodle just to stay at home and never experience life to the fullest.