James Hurst's "The Scarlet Ibis".

The Ultimate Failure

In the story "The Scarlet Ibis" written by James Hurst, the narrator of the story changes from not accepting his physically disabled brother Doodle to realizing that Doodle cannot be changed. The story "The Scarlet Ibis" is about a boy who lets his pride take the life of his younger brother Doodle. The story begins when Doodle is born. Doodle has a weak heart, which causes him not to be able to do things normal children can do. His brother, the narrator is disappointed and even embarrassed of his brother, Doodle. He begins to get so frustrated with hauling Doodle around that he begins to teach him to walk against his will. The narrator has so much pride in what he has taught his brother that he ends up pushing him too hard and eventually kills him. During the beginning of the story, the narrator is very impatient with Doodle because his is different than the other boys and he is anything but sympathetic.

Pyle's doodle of a pirate and a woman at the deck,...

Doodle from business trip

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During the story, their relationship grows but the narrator is still unable to accept Doodle's limitations. At the end of the story, the narrator pushes Doodle so hard that he eventually killed him.

In the beginning of the story, the narrator is unable to accept the fact that his brother is not like other boys. It was evident that the narrator was not sympathetic to Doodle's fragile condition because he quotes, it was bad enough having an invalid brother, but having one that was possibly not all there was unbearable, so I began to make plans to kill him by smothering him in a pillow". The narrator doesn't accept Doodle because he is different and definitely sympathetic to Doodle's condition. The narrator wanted a...