Doodle In The Scarlet Ibis

In the story “The Scarlet Ibis,” the character Doodle is born with some mental and physical disabilities. While his family and doctor all believe him to die or not live long he learns to do things such as walk and talk with the help of his older brother, that may not have been predicted he would be capable of. The main character in this story wants to help Doodle be “normal” and do the things other children can do before Doodle starts school. While the character helps his brother out of shame and selfish reasons, he does make progress with Doodle until his pride gets the better of him and Doodle passes away. In the story the family finds a Scarlet Ibis in their yard that had passed away the same day that Doodle is pushed to his limits and
Firstly, both the bird and Doodle when they’re found dead are described in very similar ways. In the following quotes their necks were lying awkwardly, along with their legs bent, and their fragile appearances, the resemblance is very
“He lay very awkwardly with his head thrown far back, making his vermilion neck appear unusually long and slim. His little legs, bent sharply at the knees, had never before seemed so fragile and thin” (Hurst 139). The next quote describing where the bird came from supports the idea that the bird was not where it was intended to be.“‘It lives in the tropics--South America to Florida. A storm must have brought it here’” (Hurst 137). “Everybody thought he was going to die” (Hurst 129) is a quote about Doodle supporting that same idea that is he wasn’t expected to live and was thought to be somewhere he was not suppose to be(living). Thirdly, the color of both the bird and Doodle when they were lying on the ground dead were explained in detail, explaining how Doodle’s neck and body appeared red from his blood and the bird’s crimson feathers. “He had been bleeding from the mouth, and his neck and the front of his shirt were stained a brilliant red” (Hurst 139). “his head thrown far back, making his vermilion neck appear unusually long and slim.” (Hurst 139) “Even death did not mar its grace, for it lay on the earth like a broken vase of red flowers” (Hurst 137). “How many miles it had traveled to die like this, in our yard, beneath the bleeding tree”