Theme of Bias in “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst Essay Example
Theme of Bias in “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst Essay Example

Theme of Bias in “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst Essay Example

Available Only on StudyHippo
Topics:
  • Pages: 5 (1204 words)
  • Published: September 6, 2017
  • Type: Analysis
View Entire Sample
Text preview

Acceptance of an person is of import regardless of disablements and other disadvantages. This thought is absolutely presented in James Hurst’s short narrative. “The Scarlet Ibis. ” In the narrative. it is introduced that the narrator’s brother. Doodle. is born with an ailing status. but unexpectedly survives. However. his fortune goes merely every bit far when misfortune intervenes as he is diagnosed with serious wellness jobs and is disabled. In Doodle’s childhood. the storyteller – embarrassed by his brother’s uneven conditions – seeks to transform him into person who can be recognized without his incapableness. However. in the terminal. this behavior physically affects Doodle which lead to his death. In his work. Hurst portrays the dangers of coercing an person to conform to society’s criterions.

In the “Scar

...

let Ibis. ” the storyteller can non O.K. the fact that Doodle is non normal like everyone else. During Doodle’s yearling old ages. the male child feels letdown because Doodle wasn’t capable of carry throughing brotherlike conventions. He proves this when he states that he “wants more than anything else person to race to Horsehead Landing. person to package with. and person to roost with in the top fork of the great pine” ( 595 ) . This subdivision shows how the male child longs for a brother who can play and interact with him like other people’s siblings. Besides. he views Doodle as an inferior person in which he can non accept. Therefore. when the boy’s brother is named William Armstrong. the male child decides to rename him Doodle. He claims that “renaming my brother was possibly the best thing I of all time did for him. becaus

View entire sample
Join StudyHippo to see entire essay

cipher expects much from person names Doodle” ( 596 ) .

In the boy’s sentiment. Doodle could non populate up to such a superior label ; accordingly. he gives his brother a name that reflects low criterions and outlooks. In add-on. the male child considers Doodle to be inferior because he became a load. The storyteller loathes how he has to be responsible of his burdensome brother. While conveying with Doodle. “a long list of don’ts” ( 596 ) had to be kept in head ; for illustration. non to do him excessively excited. maintaining his temperature right and handling him gently with attention. The male child is strained that he has to take notice of such conditions of his brother. Due to Doodle’s abnormalcy. the male child invariably tries to alter Doodle to populate up to the typical individual he sees in society.

In the “Scarlet Ibis. ” the narrator’s feeling of embarrassment about his confined brother creates a motive for bettering Doodle’s physical province. but at the same clip. damaging his wellness. When Doodle survives everyone’s uncertainties about his life. his brother finds a manner to force Doodle’s physical bound to do him more of the brother he have in head. In order to continue his pride. the male child forces Doodle to larn how to walk. Even though the storyteller acknowledges that coercing his handicapped brother to go nomadic is wounding him. he however persists to in order to forestall farther humiliation of holding a five-year-old brother who can non walk. However. Doodle’s ability to walk is non plenty to fulfill the storyteller. After Doodle becomes mobile. the male child aims to do him

into a normal individual so he can go to school like everyone else.

When Doodle succeeded in walking. the male child wants to “teach him how to run. to swim. to mount trees. and to fight” ( 599 ) . Even though Doodle has thrived the in the boy’s old programs. the male child is still non pleased with Doodle’s promotion towards society’s criterions. Furthermore. even when Doodle got ill and interfered with the plan’s advancement. the male child did non give up on altering him and fixing him for school. He believes that it is a definite thing for Doodle to be able to go to school and populate his life like everyone else when he states the “success ballad at the terminal of summer like a pot of gold” ( 599 ) .

Owning to the boy’s determined end and his refusal to acknowledge that Doodle has a disablement. he does non acknowledge failure or the possibility that Doodle can non work as normal people do. For this ground. he feels angry when Doodle wasn’t able to run. swim. battle and ascent trees like he had planned. As a consequence. the male child runs off from Doodle. abandoning him when Doodle tries to near him. The male child does non understand or appreciate Doodle’s purpose of going what he wanted. but blames him for non being able to go ordinary. Even though Doodle was “watching for a mark of mercy” ( 604 ) and shouting “brother. brother. don’t leave me! Don’t leave me! ” ( 604 ) when he had fallen down. the male child can merely grok how much of his pride is hurt.

Persuaded by his egoism. the storyteller pushes his brother to such an extreme that lead to Doodle’s decease.

Even at the terminal. the storyteller still does non admit the qualities Doodle had processed. To do clip base on balls. Doodle would state narratives full of imaginativeness to the storyteller while the storyteller told “scary. involved. and normally pointless” ( 599 ) narratives. An illustration of the bright narratives was about “about named Peter who had a Inachis io with a ten-foot tail. Peter wore a robe that glittered so brilliantly that when he walked through the helianthuss they turned off from the Sun to confront him. ” From the narratives. you can state that Doodle is a really pure and guiltless male child populating under the influence of his brother’s dark narratives. doing Doodle’s creativeness to me destruct. Hurst besides uses a really of import component. the vermilion ibis. to compare stress and stand for Doodle. When the storyteller brought Doodle to the beautiful Old Woman Swamp. Doodle starts to shout.

Annoyed by the cryings. the storyteller asks why and Doodle replies that the scene is “so reasonably. reasonably. pretty” ( 597 ) . This shows how sensitive and delicate he is towards his milieus. Although the storyteller sees this as an annoyance. Doodle’s sensitiveness is really moving as he captures the best out of everything. merely like the ibis. Another similarity between the bird and Doodle is their topographic point in the universe. The vermilion ibis. a tropical bird in South America is brought by a storm to the family’s pace beneath the “bleeding tree” ( 602 ) . This ibis is purportedly to be free

and wild in the natural universe but yet. it consequences in the pace that is owned and is criticized that it may hold a disease.

In the “Scarlet ibis. ” the boy’s refusal to accept an single consequence in the devastation of his brother. in the narrative. the attempts of Doodle’s brother to alter Doodle are merely to continue his pride. Even though it did actuate the boy’s brother to better physically. the agreement consequences in the decease of Doodle. In this narrative. the subject of tolerance and credence is stressed reminding us that a individual can non be contrived to go more similar to the societal order.

Get an explanation on any task
Get unstuck with the help of our AI assistant in seconds
New