Symbolism In The Scarlet Ibis

Symbolism In The Scarlet Ibis

Edith C., Larissa O., Damian M., Ashley D., Kimberly E.

Conclusion

If Doodle hadn't died, the story would have a different meaning. It would make the pride of Doodle's brother as a mere motivation, when in fact it became a drug that slowly killed Doodle yet satisfied his brother,

Doodle touching the casket served as a motivation to regain the hope that has been lost and to continue to "travel."

CONCLUSION

Because Doodle's brother made Doodle accomplish many things to drive his feeling of satisfaction, and did this ruthlessly, demonstrates how Doodle's brother's wanting of pride, can overshadow his love.

Minor claim 2

Minor Claim 3:

Pride is addicting.

Analysis

Conclusion:

When your expectations aren't fulfilled, you begin to feel "cracked" because you're being separated from the success within your pride.

As Doodle's brother hadn't gotten his dose of pride because Doodle failed to swim, he is angry and takes it out on Doodle. Doodle, now that he has accomplished walking, understands the feeling of pride. Therefore, he doesn't mind that his brother is pushing him. However, when his brother's pride is diminished because of his failure, he tries to console his brother's "cracked pride." Doodle watches his brother for "a sign for mercy". According to the dictionary, mercy is a compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender. Doodle wants to be forgiven for him failing his brother, and for failing at this attempt to console him. Further towards the end, Doodle is not able to run, and further weakens his image by calling his brother to "not leave me." In Doodles' brothers' eyes, knowing that Doodle cannot run further cracks his pride. Doodles' brothers' "cracked pride" represents Doodle's "cracked" future. Doodles' brother leaves his brother behind because he [Doodle] is not able to please him [his brother]. This inability causes Doodles' brother to feel as though his expectations of Doodle is not fulfilled, being reconciled to the idea that his pride has not reached another level of satisfaction.

Analysis

Love for a person can be disguised by showing pride towards the person.

Text Support

“Doodle was both tired and frightened, and when he stepped from the skiff he collapsed onto the mud, sending an armada of fiddler crabs rustling off into the marsh grass. I helped him up, and as he wiped the mud off his trousers, he smiled at me ashamedly. He had failed and we both knew it, so we started back home, racing the storm. 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 lightning was near now, and from fear he walked so close behind me he kept stepping on my heels. The faster I walked, the faster he walked, so I began to run. The rain was coming, roaring through the pines, and then, like a bursting Roman candle, a gum tree ahead of us was shattered by a bolt of lightning. When the deafening peal of thunder had died, and in the moment before the rain arrived, I heard Doodle, who had fallen behind, cry out,

"Brother, Brother, don't leave me! Don't leave me!"

The knowledge that Doodle's and my plans had come to naught was bitter, and that streak of cruelty within me awakened. I ran as fast as I could, leaving him far behind with a wall of rain dividing us. The drops stung my face like nettles, and the wind flared the wet glistening leaves of the bordering trees.

Soon I could hear his voice no more.”

-Page 6, Paragraphs 2-3

Text Support

“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. One day I took him up to the barn loft and showed him his casket, telling him how we all had believed he would die. It was covered with a film of Paris green sprinkled to kill the rats, and screech owls had built a nest inside it. Doodle studied the mahogany box for a long time, then said, “It’s not mine.”“It is,” I said. “And before I’ll help you down from the loft, you’re going to have to touch it.”

“I won’t touch it,” he said sullenly.

“Then I’ll leave you here by yourself,” I threatened, and made as if I were going down.

Doodle was frightened of being left. “Don’t leave me, Brother,” he cried, and leaned toward the coffin. His hand, trembling, reached out, and when he touched the casket, he screamed. A screech owl flapped out of the box into our faces, scaring us and covering us with Paris green. Doodle was paralyzed, so I put him on my shoulder and carried him down the ladder, and even when we were outside in the bright sunshine, he clung to me, crying, and “Don't leave me.”

-Page 2, Paragraphs 6-11

Analysis

This part of the passage starts off with how Doodle’s brother reflects and admits that he was mean to Doodle even though he deeply loved Doodle. Doodle's brother proclaims there is "a knot of cruelty borne by the stream of love," meaning despite how much he may care about Doodle, he may tend to be 'cruel' [which according to the dictionary means to: enjoy the pain or distress of others]. He also states, "much as our blood sometimes bears the seed of destruction, and at times I was mean to Doodle." From this statement, we can derive the concept that us causing destruction to the other is something normal. According to the dictionary, a seed is the fertilized, matured ovule of a flowering plant. This seed of destruction, demolition, and devastation is something Doodle's brother continued to nurture as he requested, sometimes demanding, Doodle to do things reluctantly.

He told Doodle to touch his own mahogany casket for the satisfaction of Doodle's fearfulness, which dealt with Doodle refusing to believe the casket was his. Doodle's fear was simply triggered by the overall idea that he possibly may have not been alive at some point. Moreover, the mahogany casket represents lost hope. The reason Doodle’s parents bought the casket (also initially giving Doodle a formal name) was because they thought he would die.

Doodle's brother had told Doodle to touch the casket because he knew it would cause him pain. The pain Doodle would encounter was symbolic to the pain Doodle's brother experienced. This is because Doodle's brother wanted him to feel the pain he felt due to the burden Doodle brought to the family.

With Doodle touching the casket and asking his brother to not leave him, his dependance and his confiding on his "storm" (his brother's pride, as aforementioned under minor claim 1) is shown. This conveys the idea that behind Doodle’s brother causing him deep emotional pain, there is love manifested by the dependency Doodle has on his brother.

In this passage we are introduced to a scarlet ibis. The scarlet ibis is presented as graceful and beautiful and even after it had died, its beauty still continued. The scarlet ibis had traveled such a long distance to only die and didn’t have a chance to enjoy what it had accomplished. However, the scarlet ibis didn’t travel that far because of its own strength; the scarlet ibis was brought by a storm. Because the family was extremely astonished with the presence of the scarlet ibis and didn’t know what kind of bird it was, it’s clear that the scarlet ibis wasn’t supposed to travel that far from its original place.

The scarlet ibis represents Doodle. Doodle was born fragile and when he died death did not mar Doodle’s physical fragility. When Doodle was born there was no hope of him having a future. However, when his brother was persistent to not have a crippled brother, he taught Doodle how to walk. Later on when Doodle learned how to walk, a feeling of pride invaded Doodle’s brother. This pride is what made Doodle “travel” such a “far distance.” Doodle’s travels ultimately become his accomplishments in which the family had not expected. Doodles brher's pride was anticipated as a storm, not only dealing with weather, but also the way his brother treated him. Such treatment, Doodle's brother's pride, this storm, has pushed Doodle to his own death.

The definition of pride is: "a feeling or deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one's own achievements, the achievements of those with whom one is closely associated, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired."

Argument

The argument made in the Scarlet Ibis is that the pride one person has for another, can be the other person’s outburst.

CONCLUSION

In this case Doodle's brother felt proud that he had made his brother walk and has a satisfaction of his brother's accomplishments. The more he wanted to push his brother to accomplish more things, the more Doodle risked his life.

Minor Claim 1

Text: Scarlet Ibis

A person's pride can push people to accomplish wonderful things, but too much pride can damage a person.

“At that moment the bird began to flutter, but the wings were uncoordinated, and amid much flapping and a spray of flying feathers, it tumbled down, bumping through the limbs of the bleeding tree and landing at our feet with a thud. Its long, graceful neck jerked twice into an S, then straightened out, and the bird was still. A white veil came over the eyes and the long white beak unhinged. Its legs were crossed and its claw like feet were delicately curved at rest. 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.

‘It's dead,’ Mama said.

‘What is it?’ Doodle repeated.

‘Go bring me the bird book,’ said Daddy. I ran into the house and brought back the bird book. As we watched, Daddy thumbed through its pages. ‘It's a scarlet ibis,’ he said, pointing to the picture. ‘It lives in the tropics-South America to Florida. A storm must have brought it here.’

Sadly, we all looked back at the bird. A scarlet ibis! How many miles it had traveled to die like this, in our yard, beneath the bleeding tree.”

-Page 5, Paragraphs 13-17