Theme and Symbolism in the Scarlet Ibis

Pride is a notable element in “The Scarlet Ibis”, a narrative written by James Hurst, set in the early 20th century. The story begins with the narrator sharing his memories of Doodle, his younger brother. William “Doodle” Armstrong, a boy born with a heart condition, had always been a disappointment for his brother. It was the narrator who nicknamed him “Doodle”, mostly out of shame. Simply stated, for the narrator, embarrassment and shame were parts of pride. These two feelings made him willing to teach his brother how to walk, but they also brought him to think that Doodle needed to swim, climb trees, and box, things which Doodle could have lived without. When the narrator recalls the time Doodle is born, he says “Then I did not know that pride is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines, life and death” (Hurst 354). Meaning that pride has duality, it can be both good and bad. Regrettably, the narrator has been subject to both kinds. When he was teaching Doodle to walk, he realized that the only reason he did so was out of shame. In spite of this, the narrator did feel genuinely happy for his younger brother when their family saw Doodle walk for the first time. The thing about pride is that it’s confusing. Hurst’s writing conveys that we’re supposed to take pride in the way we look and act, but at the same time, we’re not supposed to be so proud that we look down on others. For this reason, the theme of “The Scarlet Ibis” is pride.

In “The Scarlet Ibis”, there are many good examples of symbolism, adding a greater meaning and depth to the story. When everyone thinks Doodle is going to die, Aunt Nicey, who delivered him, disagreed because Doodle was born in a caul. And in her religious belief, cauls are made from “Jesus’s nightgown”. So Aunt Nicey says that the caul is a sign, telling the family that they should treat Doodle carefully because he may become a saint one day. The caul, therefore, becomes symbolic when the reader sees that Doodle...