The Scarlet Ibis

“But sometimes (like right now), as I sit in the cool, green-draped parlor, the grindstone begins to turn, and time with all its changes is ground away—and I remember Doodle.”

The grindstone, traditionally used to sharpen tools, here functions as a way for the narrator to sharpen his memory. The grindstone’s turning symbolizes the narrator’s return to the past and allows the reader to view the story through his perspective.

“They named him William Armstrong, which was like tying a big tail on a small kite.”

This simile compares naming Doodle “William Armstrong” to putting a large tail on a small kite, suggesting that giving Doodle a strong name sets the boy up for failure. To the narrator, his small, fragile brother would have no use for a “big tail,” or a big name.

“Renaming my brother was perhaps the kindest thing I ever did for him, because nobody expects much from someone called Doodle.”

This reflection reveals details about the narrator’s character and how he has grown to think about his treatment of Doodle after the passage of time. The narrator’s guilt over Doodle’s death makes him consider that his expectations for Doodle were too high. In retrospect, he should have embraced Doodle as an individual with limitations rather than pushing him beyond his abilities.

“There is within me (and with sadness I have watched it in 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 mean to Doodle.”

The narrator, looking back on events, recognizes that his feelings for Doodle were complicated, and his actions reflected both love and cruelty. In the present, the narrator laments his past cruel behavior, metaphorically viewing his actions toward Doodle as something that destroyed not only Doodle but part of himself as well.

“I did not know then that pride is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines, life and death.”

The narrator later views his pride as both a positive and negative force. The narrator’s pride develops the theme of Coming of Age: Pride and Social Acceptance. Pride motivates the narrator to help his brother learn to walk. However, shame drives the narrator to push his brother beyond his abilities, thus resulting in Doodle’s death.

“Hope no longer hid in the dark palmetto thicket but perched like a cardinal in the lacy toothbrush tree, brilliantly visible.”

This passage describes the way the narrator feels about Doodle first learning to walk. Hurst personifies hope and compares it to a vibrant cardinal perched in a tree using simile. By using the image of a living red bird, rather than the dead scarlet ibis that symbolizes the doomed Doodle, the narrator suggests the possibility of a fulfilling life for Doodle and a closer friendship between the brothers.

“They did not know that I did it for myself; that pride, whose slave I was, spoke to me louder than all their voices, and that Doodle walked only because I was ashamed of having a crippled brother.”

The narrator reflects on his pride, realizing that his actions on behalf of Doodle stemmed from his feelings of shame rather than his desire to help Doodle. The narrator’s retrospective lens develops the theme of Coming of Age: Pride and Social Acceptance. Despite his knowledge that his family was overjoyed that Doodle could walk, the narrator recognizes his own ulterior motives.

“Of course, I was old enough to know this wouldn’t work out, but the picture he painted was so beautiful and serene that all I could do was whisper Yes, yes.”

The narrator appreciates Doodle’s fairytale-like plans for the family’s future. Although he understands that Doodle’s daydreams will never come to pass, the narrator recognizes something special about Doodle: the beauty of his ability to craft imaginative stories. However, the narrator, as foil to Doodle, does not understand that his brother’s strength of imagination equates to his own physical skills (e.g., running, climbing, jumping).

“Even death did not mar its grace, for it lay on the earth like a broken vase of red flowers, and we stood around it, awed by its exotic beauty.”

Through simile, Hurst compares the dead scarlet ibis to a broken vase. This description foreshadows the later account of Doodle after his death and thematically develops The Beauty and Inevitability of Death. At their deaths, both the Doodle and the scarlet ibis are depicted as beautiful and red. The color red symbolizes the death of beauty.

“‘Dead birds is bad luck,’ said Aunt Nicey, poking her head from the kitchen door. ‘Specially red dead birds!’”

This quote supports the theme of Superstition and the Natural World. Aunt Nicey’s proclamation that the dead scarlet ibis will bring bad luck exemplifies her superstitious thinking. Additionally, her declaration foreshadows the bad luck Doodle soon encounters.

“We never spoke (What are the words that can solder cracked pride?), but I knew he was watching me, watching for a sign of mercy.”

The narrator recognizes that Doodle looks up to him. Doodle desperately wants the elder brother to forgive him for his failure to successfully learn boyhood athletic skills. Yet, the narrator’s pride is so wounded he cannot even speak and is unable to show Doodle the mercy he requests. The narrator’s cruel stubbornness develops the theme of Coming of Age: Pride and Social Acceptance.

“I heard Doodle, who had fallen behind, cry out ‘Brother, Brother, don’t leave me! Don’t leave me!’”

Doodle cannot keep up with the narrator and begs for his protection. The recurring motif of Doodle’s pleas—“Don’t leave me”—reveals his great fear of his brother’s abandonment. This motif supports the theme of The Beauty and Inevitability of Death.

“He lay very awkwardly, with his head thrown far back, making his vermillion neck appear unusually long and slim.”

The narrator’s final description of Doodle reveals his similarity to the dead scarlet ibis. Both appear to have long necks, die in similar positions, and are colored red. This image reinforces the symbolic connection between Doodle and the scarlet ibis, showing how both exhibit beauty yet experience tragedy.