The Scarlet Ibis Literary Analysis

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In James Hurt’s short story “The Scarlet Ibis”, he demonstrates that people can only make the most of their lives through being free, and constantly pushing their boundaries. If they don’t, then they will not shine their brightest. In this story, the narrator’s brother was born with lots of physical disabilities. The narrator consumed with pride, was embarrassed to have Doodle has his brother because Doodle was weak. Surprisingly, Doodle survived, and with the help of his brother, he pushed himself to do things that were originally thought not possibly by him or others. At first, the narrator does not want Doodle to be around him, but eventually, the narrator shows interest in Doodle. One time the narrator brought Doodle to Old Woman Swamp,…show more content…
This was because for once in his life, he was not in common ground, and was able to further explore the wonders that life had to offer him. In addition to going to the swamp, Doodle also began to try and walk through the encouragement of his brother. The narrator only tried to teach Doodle how to walk because the narrator was ashamed of Doodle. After a summer, in about October, Doodle accomplished the task of walking. “There wasn’t a sound as Doodle walked slowly across the room and sat down at his place at the table.” (page 173). One of the physical disabilities that Doodle was born with was a heart strain. At first, when the narrator pushed Doodle into trying to walk, Doodle did not believe that he could. However, when the idea that he could walk spread to Doodle, he pushed towards that goal. He pushed his comfort zone, as a result, he received a new way to experience life. Doodle became more independent because now he could go wherever he wanted whenever. Doodle was free, and no longer had to rely on others to bring him to place. Before school starts, the family finds a scarlet ibis that dies in front of them, Doodle, seeing this, because
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