• The Scarlet Ibis Background– Author

– Publication

– Influence

• James Hurst

• published in the July 1960

• "The Scarlet Ibis" was the first and only work of Hurst's to achieve widespread success.

• The Scarlet Ibis Background, Con’t:– The Bird Itself

• Native of the South American tropics

• The scarlet ibis is vivid red, but loses its color if it doesn’t eat the proper diet

• It needs a particular habitat in order to thrive

• The scarlet ibis is an endangered species which has not bred successfully in its natural habitat since the 1960s.

• The Scarlet Ibis Background, Con’t:– The Story

• Explores the conflicts between love and pride and draws attention to the effects of familial and societal expectations on those who are handicapped.

• Draws a powerful symbolic connection between the handicapped child Doodle and the beautiful and rare Scarlet Ibis

• Overview– Plot at a Glance

• The story focuses on the troubled relationship between two young boys: the narrator and his mentally and physically disabled brother, Doodle.

• His brother wishes he had a normal functioning brother and sometimes even has dark thoughts about murdering him

• Overview– Plot at a Glance

• Motivated by a smile Doodle give his brother, however, Brother decides to teach Doodle how to walk along with other skills a normal boy would possess

• With his brother pushing him perhaps too hard to be something he is not, Doodle’s health begins to decline.

• Literary Focus– Symbols

• The Scarlet Ibis

• Connections Between The Scarlet Ibis and Doodle

• In the course of the story, Doodle becomes symbolically identified with a rare and beautiful Scarlet Ibis

1a.The Scarlet ibis, an exotic bird that does not belong in the narrator's region, land in their backyard

1b.Doodle is forced to do things that he should not have to try to do and is forced out of his element

2a.The red bird falls from the tree it is in, and lands dead at the feet of Doodle’s family

2b.Forces of out of his element Doodle loses his color (as a Scarlet Ibis would) and his health declines

The shaded area of the map highlights the region populated by the Scarlet Ibis

• Symbols, Con’t:• Coffin and Go-Cart

• Weather

• Representative of both the expectations of Doodle’s family and Doodle’s ability to overcome those expectations (that he is going to die as an infant and that he will never walk)

• Reflects the mood of the story—the weather often mirrors if good or bad things are happening in the story

• Literary Focus– Themes and Conflicts

• Love • Pride• Disabilities• Expectations and

Limitations• Brotherly Love• Beauty Found in the

Unique• Age and Experience

• Literary Focus– Foreshadowing

• Hurst frequently uses foreshadowing to suggest an upcoming event.

• In “The Scarlet Ibis” this most clearly used to hint at death coming:– Doctor's warning about

Doodle's weak heart, to foreshadow the death of Doodle

– The changing of seasons being described in terms of “death” and rebirth

• Literary Focus– Point of View

• Literary Focus– Irony

• The story is told in first-person retrospect by Brother

• This is noteworthy because Brother is looking back on events from his childhood with the maturity of an adult.

• Brother is a very honest, human narrator’s whose self-criticism does not reveal his deep love for Doodle

*Brother did commit harsh acts against Doodle when they were children, which conversly makes readers pity both characters

• Brother’s attempts to help Doodle are ultimately harmful to him

• Characters– Doodle

• Mentally and physically impaired, Doodle is a disappointment to his family, especially to Brother

• Everyone expects Doodle to die, but he defies them all and survives, becoming a loving boy with a strong attachment to Brother

• Characters– Brother

• He is not given a name but is referred to by Doodle, his brother, only as "Brother."

• Brother grows ashamed of Doodle's limitations and regularly taunts him

• Brother loves Doodle, but the love is tainted with cruelty and embarrassment.