Essay about The Scarlet Ibis

Submitted By rileyhull
Words: 538
Pages: 3

“The Scarlet Ibis”
The narrator is responsible for Doodle’s death because he was cruel towards Doodle, he was embarrassed of his brother and he didn’t care for his brother’s well-being. The narrator’s bad intentions for Doodle began at an early age, without even giving Doodle a chance, the narrator decided that he doesn’t like him because of his disability. He starts using Doodle’s disability against him to put him in uncomfortable situations. “One day I took him up to the barn… and showed him his casket… ‘And before I’ll help you down from the loft, you’re going to touch it.’… ‘Don’t leave me, Brother,’ he cried, and… he touched the casket and screamed” (346). The narrator wanted to force Doodle to touch the coffin that was meant for Doodle to be put in. He wanted to make it clear to Doodle that he wasn’t supposed to survive, that he should be dead. This is cruel because the narrator forced Doodle to recognize the meaning of death. He tried to fix Doodle, so matter how much harm he did. “I was embarrassed of having a brother at that age who couldn’t walk, so I set out to teach him… I heaved him up… he collapsed… and I heaved him up once more” (346-347). The narrator was ashamed of having a brother that couldn’t walk, so he started pushing Doodle to learn, even though he was in no condition to do it. The narrator ignored Doodle’s condition and continued to push him to the extreme. The narrator showed no mercy and purposefully pushed his brother to his limit. He only pushed Doodle so far so that when they started school, he wouldn’t have to of been humiliated by his brother. Because of the narrator’s lack of care toward Doodle, the narrator is guilty for his death. “He was a burden in many ways… A long list of don’t went with him, all of which I