Notes

In the short story, "The Scarlet Ibis" the Scarlet Ibis is a symbol representing Doodle. When the narrator would bring up Doodle in the story, he would describe him as very weak, disabled, and unable to move or get up at times, and unwilling to do things with health conditions. "Everybody thought he was going to die—everybody except Aunt Nicey, who had delivered him. She said he would live because he was born in a caul, and cauls were made from Jesus's nightgown." (James Hurst Part 1) This shows Aunt Nicey with the rest of the family had very low expectations for Doodle. Towards the end, and middle of the story the narrator starts to show signs of becoming more proud of Doodle, and who he is and what he's become of. Doodle has proved himself worthy of being proud of, aside from his disabilities. "But all of us must have something to be proud of, and Doodle had become mine. I did not know then that pride is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines, life and death. (James Hurst Part 3) This shows that the narrator looks back on the past events with the knowledge that he achieved after all of it. Doodle has become a person to have pride in, and he earned the pride. In conclusion, although things didn't end well with Doodle, it left Doodle's brother knowing he was resposible for Doodle's death, yet he still had lots of pride in him.