Unlike the ibis, Doodle doesn’t die because he’s been in a storm. He overexerts himself rowing, then overexerts himself more by running, and then gets frightened when Brother abandons him in the storm. Doodle’s death was preventable.

He didn’t crawl until his third winter. At the age of five, he could not walk. Since Doodle’s brother was embarrassed to have a brother start school without being able to walk, he set about teaching him to walk, pushing him very hard. This led to Doodle’s tragic death at the end of the story.

‘The Scarlet Ibis,’ a short story by James Hurst that was published in 1960, is a sad story of a child born with a serious medical condition who overcomes some of his challenges only to be run to death by his well-meaning but self-absorbed older brother.

Brother became embarrassed of Doodle and taught him to walk. Doodle dies at age six, and Brother is responsible for his death. Brother’s only motivation to teach Doodle to run, swim, climb and walk was the fact that he was embarrassed to have a crippled sibling.

He feels sorrow for the actual death of his younger, weaker sibling, whom he realizes now is a human being worthy of love and care. He feels guilt because of the cruel, selfish, unthinking and uncaring way he dealt with his brother.

It is hard to blame the narrator (“Brother”) completely because he is just a kid himself. He openly admits his responsibility in tormenting Doodle and pushing him too far, though, so the narrator is largely to blame. Brother says Doodle was “a disappointment” from the beginning.

Knowing that his brother’s heart is weak, the narrator is, indeed, responsible for the death of his brother in forcing Doodle to run after him in the storm. In the James Hurst short story “The Scarlet Ibis” the narrator is responsible for Doodle’s death.

Brother deliberately killed Doodle because in the story it says, “He was ashamed of having an invalid brother.” Brother intentionally showed Doodle his casket because everyone knew he was going to die.

Brother knows full well what he’s doing; he even admits that he’s motivated by childish spite. In any case, all this physical exertion is just too much for Doodle’s weak body to take, and so he quickly falls behind. It’s then that he’s fatally injured by a falling tree struck by lightning.

Brother is kind to Doodle because he taught him how to walk and run, but he is also cruel to Doodle because he made him work until he could not move anymore; that is how he died. Doodle reacts to the death of the scarlet ibis by being very sad. Doodle buried him in the yard.

Even though some of Brother’s motivations come from pride and shame, he really does forge a genuine connection with Doodle. The bond between Doodle and Brother is largely based in a mutual appreciation for natural beauty. Doodle wants to be with Brother and he wants to share Brother’s life.

Brother’s feelings for Doodle alternate between shame, guilt, and love. Unfortunately for this Brother, he does not realize this until Doodle dies, leaving him with his guilt for the rest of his life.

Doodle is born with a heart condition and is expected to die as an infant. According to his doctor, he’ll never be able to walk. But, Brother takes things too far and contributes to Doodle’s death. “The Scarlet Ibis” is told through the eyes of adoring, grief-stricken, and guilt ridden Brother.

We can imagine his sadness at the birth of Doodle, and we are told that it is Daddy who asks the carpenter to build a coffin, obviously predicting an early death. But also, perhaps to make up for this, it is Daddy who makes Doodle a go-cart.

Doodle seems afraid of being left behind by his brother. Perhaps, it is the fact that the narrator is the one who urges Doodle to make physical accomplishments that effects Doodle’s dependency upon his brother.

Doodle was born physically very weak. Doodle “crawled backward” and that is why his brother nicknamed him Doodle, like a doodlebug. The name stuck. He insisted on going with his brother wherever he went, but he couldn’t walk. Brother pulled him around in a cart, because he could not walk.

The casket is a symbol for the death that Doodle evaded, and he fears that if he physically connects with it he is inviting death back into his life. The casket represents what was supposed to happen to Doodle, but which, by some strange trick of fate, did not (at least not in the early part of his life).

The dramatic irony is that Brother doesn’t recognize the lesson he might learn from the ibis (what we see as a foreshadowing lesson) and Brother continues to push Doodle to fit in. We don’t know exactly how Doodle dies (maybe the nightshade, maybe the exertion of training).

Another example of irony from the story is that a coffin is built for Doodle soon after he is born. However, another ironic situation occurs when everyone does expect the baby to die, but then he doesn’t; consequently, the coffin is stored high in the rafters of the barn until or in case the boy dies.

The foreshadowing which is woven through “The Scarlet Ibis” establishes a solemn and ominous mood. Heather Garey, M.S. Three examples of foreshadowing in James Hurst’s short story, “The Scarlet Ibis,” are the blighted summer of 1918, the scarlet ibis dead in the tree, and the thunderstorm at horsehead landing.

The main themes in “The Scarlet Ibis” are love versus pride, acceptance versus expectation, and martyrdom. Love versus pride: Brother’s motivations to help Doodle alternate between love and shame; his love encourages kindness, but his shame over Doodle’s failings results in Doodle’s death.

Death Theme Analysis. Hurst refers to death explicitly and implicitly throughout “The Scarlet Ibis,” using foreshadowing, the symbolism of the ibis itself, and allusions to the Biblical story of Cain and Abel.

The term theme can be defined as the underlying meaning of a story. It is the message the writer is trying to convey through the story. Often the theme of a story is a broad message about life. The theme of a story is important because a story’s theme is part of the reason why the author wrote the story.

the narrator might say that we hurt the ones we love because we have the power to do so or because we may not be thinking about anyone but ourselves. what is the similarity between the scarlet ibis and doodle? exotic, out of place, victims of storms, and both die. also, they are both red(doodle is red from the blood).