The Scarlet Ibis Review

Author

• James Hurst is the author of  the short story The Scarlet Ibis.
• Was born in 1922 on a farm near Jacksonville, North Carolina.
• A famous quote by him is: "I did not know then that pride is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines, life and death.”  This quote indicates the double-sidedness of pride, and how the brother's pride let to Doodle's death.
• Attended North Carolina State University and studied chemical engineering.
• Served in the army for 3 years during World War II, after graduating.
• After serving, he studied opera at the Julliard School of Music in New York and then in Rome for four years, but when he came back to the US, he gave up on opera.
• Worked in the international department of a large New York bank for 34 years, during this time he developed a talent for writing short stories.
• His most famous work, The Scarlet Ibis, was influenced by his experiences in the Army and by the failure of his singing career.  It became an instant classic when it was published in The Atlantic Monthly in 1960.
• Retired in 1985 to live in North Carolina, on the coast near the farm where he was born.
• The book says he's still alive, but he died in 2013, at 91 years of age.
• Hurst wrote one play and a variety of short stories, most of which were published in small literary magazines.
• During his lifetime, he won the Atlantic First Award.

Vocabulary

1. imminent - (adj,) about to occur
2. infallibility - (noun) an inability to make errors
3. doggedness - (noun) persistence; stubbornness
4. reiterate - (verb) to repeat
5. precariously - (adv.) insecurely; in a dangerous or unstable way
6. exotic - (adj.) excitingly strange
7. evanesce - (verb) to disappear; vanish
8. heresy - (noun) an action or opinion contrary to what is generally thought of as right

Short Summary

• The story takes place in the 1910's, with Doodle's death ocurring the summer of 1918.
• Doodle was a nickname for William Armstrong, a boy who everyone thought was going to die when he was born (October 8), yet he did not.
• Defying doctors' expectations, Doodle began to move at age 2 and by age 3 he could crawl (backwards, from here comes his nickname; he looked like a doodlebug).
• The dad built Doodle a go-cart and his brother would have to lug him everywhere; the first time they went to Old Woman Swamp Doodle cried because of how beautiful it was.
• Doodle's brother wanted hm to be normal; he taught him to walk at age 5 and they revealed this to the family on October 8 (Doodle's birthday).
• Doodle and his brother often talked about their future; they planned to build homes on Old Woman Swamp.
• After teaching Doodle to walk, his brother thought he was infalible.  He set up a development plan for Doodle so he would fit in at school, which he would soon start.
• They didn't do anything that winter because Doodle was constantly sick and the brother was at school, but that summer they trained intensely.
• Doodle was growing tired, and his brother would not stop.
• One day, a scarlet ibis appears on their yard and dies.
• This same day they go out to train; Doodle struggles and collapses onto mud.
• Doodle knew he had failed; he looked at his brother for mercy.
• As they were going back, Doodle walked closely behind his brother.  A gum tree is struck by lightning, and when the noise is over Doodle tells his brother not to leave him because he had started running.
• The brother kept running as fast as he could; he eventually stopped to wait for Doodle but he didn't come.
• The brother went back to find Doodle below a tree, bleeding from his mouth, dead.
• He throws himself, crying, over his brother, to protect him from the rain.

Extended Summary

• The story begins with the brother clearly remembering a time when it was between summer and autumn, and how he remembers Doodle.  He talks about how Doodle was born when he was 6, and he was a disappointment from his birth; everyone (except Aunt Nicey) thought he would die.
• The dad even hired a carpenter, Mr. Heath, to build a little mahogany coffin.
• Doodle didn't die, so when he's 3 months they decide to name him; they call him William Armstrong, a really long name for a small kid.
• The brother wanted someone to go to Old Woman Swamp and race at Horsehead Landing, someone to box with, but his mom told him his brother won't be able to do any of these things; he'd probably lay in the bed in the front bedroom the rest of his life, or maybe not even be there at all.
• Doodle's brother made plans to kill him by smothering him with a pillow, but one afternoon, when Doodle was two if you laid him on his stomach, he began to move, straining terribly; the doctors said this strain would kill him because of his weak heart, but he kept trying, turning purple, and collapsing.
• By his third winter, Doodle learned to crawl and was brought out of the fireplace; he became a member of the family.  It was in this moment his brother gave him the nickname Doodle because William Armstrong sounded too formal; he got this nickname because when Doodle crawled, he crawled backward, which made him look like a doodlebug.
• The Mom and the Dad thought Doodle was a better name, but Aunt Nicey didn't.  The brother considers renaming his brother was the best thing he ever did because no one expects much from someone called Doodle.
• Doodle talked a lot; his dad built him a go-cart and his brother would push him up and down the piazza (veranda), but he cried wanting to go to the yard.  Soon he had to take him wherever he went; he'd start crying when he was going to leave and his Mom would tell him to take Doodle with him.
• His brother considered Doodle a burden because he couldn't get too excited, hot, cold, or tired because of doctor's orders; he had to be treated gently.  The brother ignored a lot of instructions on how to care for Doodle when he went out of the house.
• Doodle always wore a straw hat to protect his sensitive skin.  His brother flipped his go-kart sometimes, but he'd never tell his Mom.
• When Doodle's brother first took him to Old Woman Swamp, the only beauty he knew, he started crying because it was so beautiful.
• After this, Doodle and his brother would often go to Old Woman Swamp; the brother would gather different flowers and they'd weave them with wire grass into necklaces and crowns; they'd put on their creations and then dropped them in the stream.
• The brother was sometimes mean to Doodle.  Once, the brother took Doodle up to the loft and showed him his coffin; Doodle sais it wasn't his and he wouldn't touch it, so the brother threatened him with leaving him alone, something that terrified Doodle, he'd say "Don't leave me, Brother."  He made him touch it and an owl flapped out of the box and sprayed them with Paris green (bug poison spray that covered the casket).
• Doodle's brother was embarrassed by having a brother that was 5 and couldn't walk, so he set out to teach him.  When he told him this, at Old Woman Swamp, Doodle responded "Why?", he said he couldn't keep hauling him around, but Doodle said he couldn't walk.
• Doodle's brother stood him up but he collapsed as if he had no bones on his legs, but the brother was very persistent.  They did this every day of the summer beside a pine that was beside the stream of Old Woman Swamp; the brother putting him on his feet at least 100 times each afternoon.  The brother often drew them as old men, him still lugging Doodle around, this never failed to make him try again.
• After many weeks, Doodle stood alone for a few seconds; they kept going to Old Woman Swamp every day.  He was able to show his abilities by cotton-picking time, even though he couldn't walk far.
• They revealed the secret October 8, Doodle's birthday, at breakfast.  The parents and Aunt Nicey did not know what to expect from the surprise the kids had talked so much about, when Doodle walked the Mom started to cry, the Aunt prayed thanks and they all danced.  When Doodle said his brother had taught him, everyone hugged him and he began to cry.
• Doodle's brother was ashamed of how he did all this because of his pride and his shame to have a crippled brother.
• Within a few months, Doodle's go-cart was put up in the barn loft beside his mahogany coffin.
• Doodle had to rest often and lied a lot; his favorite lie was about a boy named Peter who had a pet peacock with a ten-foot tail, he wore a golden robe that shined so much when he walked through sunflowers they would face him.  When Peter was ready to sleep the peacock spread his tail and enfolded peter.
• Doodle and his brother spend a lot of time thinking about their futures; they had decided when they were grown they'd live in Old Woman Swamp and pick dog-tongue (flower) for a living.  They had planned to build houses and play all day, and their Mom and Dad could come live with them.  Doodle also thought he could marry his Mom and his brother, his Dad; Doodle's brother knew this wouldn't happen but he let Doodle think it would.
• Doodle's brother secretly prepared a development program for him, unknown to his parents.  He hoped to teach Doodle to run, swim, climb trees, and fight before he started school, which was less than a year away.
• They didn't make much progress in the winter because the brother was in school and Doodle suffered constant colds.
• In Spring, they resumed, going to Horsehead Landing for swimming and rowing, and to Old Woman Swamp to climb the vines and box.
• Doodle was starting school after the summer of 1918, which was sunny with an exception; in July a hurricane came from the east and knocked down trees in the yard and wrenched the cotton.  After this, the Dad went out and cursed heaven, hell, the weather, and the Republican Party.
• It was a few weeks to school and Doodle was behind schedule, so the brother decided to double efforts and be extreme in Doodle's training.
• Doodle started getting sick and having nightmares.
• On a hot Saturday, a few days before school started, we see them having lunch.  The mother says it'll rain because Doodle says he saw a rain frog; she believed in signs.
• They hear a strange croaking; the brother jumps and knocks over the chair to go out, but the Mother tells him to come back, pick up the chair, sit, excuse himself, and leave.  Doodle went out before him.
• Outside there was a big red bird; it wasn't scared and dropped a feather.  When it tried to fly away it died, yet it lay beautifully.
• Dad orders Doodle to bring him the bird book and concludes it is a scarlet ibis and was brought there by a storm.
• Mom says they have peach cobbler for desert and are going to finish lunch but Doodle says he's going to bury the bird.  The mother had told him not to touch the bird, so he took a string, tied it around the bird's neck, and slowly dragged it to the front yard while singing "Shall We Gather at the River"; Doodle buried the bird besidethe flower garden while the whole family watched him from inside.
• Doodle is offered food, but he keeps saying he's not hungry.
• Aunt Nicey says dead birds, especially red ones, are bad luck.
• After the brother ate, him and Doodle went to Horsehead landing.  He pushed Doodle to swim, but he just floated; he then pushed Doodle to oar against the tide, and he later collapsed onto mud.
• They went back, Doodle watching his brother for a sign of mercy, yet he knew he had failed.  Doodle walked right behind his brother; the faster the brother went, the faster Doodle went.
• The brother ran as it heavily rained; a gum tree was struck by lightning right in front of them.  Doodle yelled at him not to leave him, but he kept running as fast as he could.  He soon became tired and stopped to wait for Doodle, yet he did not come.
• The brother went back and found Doodle huddled beneath a red nightshade bush beside the road; he was sitting on the ground and his face was buried in his arms.  Doodle did not respond to his brother, when he touched him he limply fell; Doodle was bleeding from his mouth, his neck and shirt were stained red.  Doodle had died.
• Doodle's brother cried and shook him; he saw how he looked so frail, weak and thin.  He threw his body on top of his dead brother and laid there: "sheltering my fallen scarlet ibis from the heresy of rain."

Characters

1. William Armstrong (Doodle) - Was the craziest brother a boy ever had, but a good kind of crazy; he was born October 8, when his brother was 6, with a red and shriveled tiny body, everyone thought he would die.  Began moving and straining when he was 2, by age 3 he could crawl and was nicknamed Doodle by his brother because of how he crawled backward and looked like a doodlebug.  Talked and lied a lot; he wore a straw hat to protect his sensitive skin.  His brother taught him to walk but killed him with his pride.
2. the brother - He gave William the nickname "Doodle".  Doodle was born when he was 6.  Sometimes was mean to Doodle; he taught him to walk and had a plan for him to develop him, yet he abused and killed Doodle with his pride, even though he wanted the best for him.
3. Aunt Nicey - Had delivered Doodle and was the only one that said Doodle would live because he was born in a caul, made from Jesus' nightgown.
4. Mama - Would always tell Doodle's brother to take Doodle with him; she believed in signs and was supersticious.
5. Daddy - Ordered Doodle's coffin and built his go-cart.
6. Miss Leedie - Was a crazy old lady that was in love with President Wilson and wrote him a letter every day.
7. Mr. Heath - Was the carpenter who Doodle's dad had hired to make Doodle a little mahogany coffin when he was born.
8. scarlet ibis - Was a big, red bird that appeared in the family's yard while they ate lunch on a Saturday.  It was exotic and beautiful.  It lives in the tropics (South America to Florida).