Symbols In The Scarlet Ibis

The short story "The scarlet ibis " written by James Hurst foreshadows The death of doodle by the constant use of rhetorical phrases relating to death in the opening of the story with his word choice and dictation. "Summer was dead, but autumn had not yet been born the last graveyard flowers were blooming and the smell of them reminded us of the dead" (315). The author conveys death to us by stating the end of summer, and the beginning of autumn which brings sadness and death to living things which are words picked out to create a relation to death. The author also plays with our emotion by The choice of the words, graveyard and fall, which are seasons And things that commune to the passing and change of time which ultimately brings
"Everybody thought he was going to die so daddy built him a little mahogany coffin but he didn't die so mom and dad named him William Armstrong which was like tying a big tail to a smaller kite such a name sounds good on a tombstone"(317). By the statement of the father building of a coffin shows us the loss of hope on doodle to survive, they didn't expect anything to produce an outcome, but when he survived his parent decided to name him William Armstrong which was seen as excessive by his brother. the name William Armstrong was like tying a big tail to a smaller kite shows us how the brother sees doodle as fragile and frail it was no use to give him a name with such significant meaning he felt he wasn't worthy enough to live up to the expectation so he named him doodle a name in which no one perceives an outcome. The use of the metaphorical phrase it was like "tying a big tail to a smaller kite" (317)shows us how the family perceives doodle and the building of a coffin even before doodles death shows us the unforeseen punishment the parents were willing to face even before it was