Analytical Essay: Characters in Conflict: The Scarlet Ibis”
Rubric: 3
This is my 4th essay of my freshman year. This essay demonstrates mastery of an Effective Communicator because this essay exemplifies effective interpretation of conflicts in the subject. I was able to check over my work and modify words to give the reader a “present tense” understanding. My weakness in this essay is that I used a lot of past tense but I was able to change it. As a new strategy, I tried to explain event in the story indirectly. In my next composition my goal is to use better word connections.
Shame as a Role model
In the Story “The Scarlet Ibis” the theme explains how valuable excitement is. With excitement comes a price to pay. The story shows how two brothers work with each other to grasp more excitement. The brother tries to improve Doodle’s physical condition by work with him for days to try and make Doodle a normal person. The brother’s actions that impose Doodle are results of shame, however the influence that grew out of it affects Doodle with a variety of good and evil. The brother’s action comes from motivation of pride and embarrassment.
Having a physically disable little brother gives an embarrassing feeling to the brother; he will find a way to turn Doodle into a normal boy. The brother soon realizes how old his brother is and he is only able to crawl, “When Doodle was five years old, I was embarrassed at having a brother of that age who could not talk, so I set out to teach him” (Hurst, 418). Embarrassment is the driving force that causes the brother to teach Doodle how to walk. Now the Brother will stop at nothing to morph Doodle into a normal boy. After the succession of walking the brother decides to advance further, “On hot days, Doodle and I went down to Horse Landing, and I gave him swimming lessons or showed him how to row a boat.” (Hurst, 421). Greed for a normal brother motivates the Brother to push Doodle in his activities. His motivation and the pushing combined will cause damaging effects to Doodle, who recently only learned how to walk. As gluttonous or as discomforting as it is, these actions resulted in good terms that affect Doodle and the Brother.
The actions that the brother implements on Doodle give out mixed results and influences. After Doodle succeeds in walking he is one step closer to being normal “Now when we roamed off together, resting often, we never turned back until our destination had been reached, to help pass time, we took up lying.” (Hurst, 420) Doodle is able to experience fun and enjoyment without sitting in a cart. Doodle can now understand the concept of fun, and he is capable of being a normal brother. After the surprise of Doodle walking, the brother cries and his father asked, “what are you crying for?” asked daddy, but I couldn’t answer. They did not know that I did it for myself; that pride, whose slave I was, spoke to me louder than all voices, and that Doodle walked only because I was ashamed of having a crippled brother.“ (Hurst, 420). The brother’s own actions mirror his view about himself. He realizes that his actions shows how greedy of a person he is, so he cries. The brother’s influences and actions on Doodle is a gateway that Doodle walks through to enjoy life.
“The Scarlet Ibis” is a story that uses metaphor to present the theme. Doodle dies at a young age, but at least he is able to enjoy excitement in his life. People lack to realize this until it is too late. Luckily for Doodle, he gets the perfect chance. Even if his brother did it for himself, the outcome of that is positive. Doodle gets to live the life of a normal boy. If the brother’s motivation is feeble then Doodle will not be able to experience what he did.
