• The Scarlet Ibis
Background
– Author
– Publication
– Influence
• James Hurst
• published in the July
1960
• "The Scarlet Ibis" was
the first and only work
of Hurst's to achieve
widespread success.
• The Scarlet Ibis
Background, Con’t:
– The Bird Itself
• Native of the South
American tropics
• The scarlet ibis is vivid
red, but loses its color if it
doesn’t eat the proper
diet
• It needs a particular
habitat in order to thrive
• The scarlet ibis is an
endangered species
which has not bred
successfully in its natural
habitat since the 1960s.
• The Scarlet Ibis
Background, Con’t:
– The Story
• Explores the conflicts
between love and
pride and draws
attention to the effects
of familial and societal
expectations on those
who are handicapped.
• Draws a powerful
symbolic connection
between the
handicapped child
Doodle and the
beautiful and rare
Scarlet Ibis
• Overview
– Plot at a Glance
• The story focuses on
the troubled
relationship between
two young boys: the
narrator and his
mentally and
physically disabled
brother, Doodle.
• His brother wishes he
had a normal
functioning brother
and sometimes even
has dark thoughts
about murdering him
• Overview
– Plot at a Glance
• Motivated by a smile
Doodle give his brother,
however, Brother decides
to teach Doodle how to
walk along with other
skills a normal boy would
possess
• With his brother
pushing him perhaps
too hard to be
something he is not,
Doodle’s health
begins to decline.
•
Literary Focus
– Symbols
• The Scarlet Ibis
• Connections Between The
Scarlet Ibis and Doodle
•
In the course of the story, Doodle
becomes symbolically identified with a
rare and beautiful Scarlet Ibis
1a.The Scarlet ibis, an exotic bird that
does not belong in the narrator's
region, land in their backyard
1b.Doodle is forced to do things that he
should not have to try to do and is
forced out of his element
2a.The red bird falls from the tree it is in,
and lands dead at the feet of Doodle’s
family
2b.Forces of out of his element Doodle
loses his color (as a Scarlet Ibis would)
and his health declines
The shaded area of the
map highlights the region
populated by the Scarlet
Ibis
• Symbols, Con’t:
• Coffin and Go-Cart
• Weather
• Representative of both
the expectations of
Doodle’s family and
Doodle’s ability to
overcome those
expectations (that he is
going to die as an infant
and that he will never
walk)
• Reflects the mood of the
story—the weather often
mirrors if good or bad
things are happening in
the story
• Literary Focus
– Themes and Conflicts
•
•
•
•
Love
Pride
Disabilities
Expectations and
Limitations
• Brotherly Love
• Beauty Found in the
Unique
• Age and Experience
• Literary Focus
– Foreshadowing
• Hurst frequently uses
foreshadowing to suggest
an upcoming event.
• In “The Scarlet Ibis” this
most clearly used to hint
at death coming:
– Doctor's warning about
Doodle's weak heart, to
foreshadow the death of
Doodle
– The changing of seasons
being described in terms of
“death” and rebirth
• Literary Focus
– Point of View
• Literary Focus
– Irony
• The story is told in first-person
retrospect by Brother
• This is noteworthy because
Brother is looking back on
events from his childhood with
the maturity of an adult.
• Brother is a very honest,
human narrator’s whose selfcriticism does not reveal his
deep love for Doodle
*Brother did commit harsh acts
against Doodle when they
were children, which conversly
makes readers pity both
characters
• Brother’s attempts to help
Doodle are ultimately harmful
to him
• Characters
– Doodle
• Mentally and
physically impaired,
Doodle is a
disappointment to his
family, especially to
Brother
• Everyone expects
Doodle to die, but he
defies them all and
survives, becoming a
loving boy with a
strong attachment to
Brother
• Characters
– Brother
• He is not given a
name but is referred
to by Doodle, his
brother, only as
"Brother."
• Brother grows
ashamed of Doodle's
limitations and
regularly taunts him
• Brother loves Doodle,
but the love is tainted
with cruelty and
embarrassment.