Nathan Smearsoll
Mrs. Porter
English 9 Honors
October 7, 2015
“The Scarlet Ibis” – Symbolism and Simplicity “The Scarlet Ibis”, by James Hurst, is a wonderful tale. One might read through it, finish, and weep with rage at the ending, but in the end they will love it. One might read through, and see it solely as literal, and in the end they will love it. One might read through, and see it all as allegory, taking nothing literal, and in the end they will love it. They then can read through with a different attitude and pick up an entirely different tale. This is the beauty of “The Scarlet Ibis”. It is the plot and theme that initially appear to most readers. A terrific tapestry of events and ideas, as the story progresses so too does the reader’s perspective. In the first two paragraphs, readers are wondering what all the narrator’s thoughts mean. As Doodle learns new skills readers begin to love him. In the end readers realize with horror what has occurred, yet look back in wonder on what they have learned. A thousand themes could be interpreted, and every one of them is right. “He's all there! He's all there” could be one, teaching readers to accept people with disabilities yet just as real is the theme of protecting the weak because they need it. (Hurst) The author has readers hooked, and weaves for them a beautiful story, from profound beginning to heart-lifting middle to weeping end. “Sheltering my fallen scarlet ibis” is read, with hearts pounding, eyes ‘watering’, they read it again, think deeply, and begin to understand. (Hurst) And thus it concludes, with an ending many would predict, but an ending strangely appropriate nonetheless. This is the beauty of “The Scarlet Ibis”. Perhaps a reader wept and hated the ending, but they will feel in the end that “The Scarlet Ibis” was beautiful nonetheless. Few stories set up as real and human characters in such a short time. …show more content…
Fewer among those develop them throughout the story. James Hurst does this so well that it’s as if they are real. Most books’ characters become worn stretched-too-thin-for-too-long shadows of what they are meant as. Most books’ characters become old, as they repeat mistakes over and over again. Hurst, with this tale, yells ‘No More!’ to the world, and challenges everyone to aspire higher. The narrator, though readers never hear his name, becomes such a human it is hard to look at him as simply a character. With statements like “I thought myself pretty smart at many things”, and “There is within me a knot of cruelty” readers feel like he could, and probably does exist, in all his evil. (Hurst) But that is just the start of the story, in the end readers hear him respond, “Who says so?” when Doodle says he can’t walk, and feel his good. (Hurst) Readers feel the narrator change and morph as the story develops, and at the end he feels entirely different from the beginning. This is the beauty of “The Scarlet Ibis”. Perhaps a reader felt the tale unfair towards humans, but is it, or does it simply portray humans so honestly and true that it seems so? Most readers miss the settings the first time, caught up as they are with the plot, and this makes it all the more effective.
Mrs. Porter
English 9 Honors
October 7, 2015
“The Scarlet Ibis” – Symbolism and Simplicity “The Scarlet Ibis”, by James Hurst, is a wonderful tale. One might read through it, finish, and weep with rage at the ending, but in the end they will love it. One might read through, and see it solely as literal, and in the end they will love it. One might read through, and see it all as allegory, taking nothing literal, and in the end they will love it. They then can read through with a different attitude and pick up an entirely different tale. This is the beauty of “The Scarlet Ibis”. It is the plot and theme that initially appear to most readers. A terrific tapestry of events and ideas, as the story progresses so too does the reader’s perspective. In the first two paragraphs, readers are wondering what all the narrator’s thoughts mean. As Doodle learns new skills readers begin to love him. In the end readers realize with horror what has occurred, yet look back in wonder on what they have learned. A thousand themes could be interpreted, and every one of them is right. “He's all there! He's all there” could be one, teaching readers to accept people with disabilities yet just as real is the theme of protecting the weak because they need it. (Hurst) The author has readers hooked, and weaves for them a beautiful story, from profound beginning to heart-lifting middle to weeping end. “Sheltering my fallen scarlet ibis” is read, with hearts pounding, eyes ‘watering’, they read it again, think deeply, and begin to understand. (Hurst) And thus it concludes, with an ending many would predict, but an ending strangely appropriate nonetheless. This is the beauty of “The Scarlet Ibis”. Perhaps a reader wept and hated the ending, but they will feel in the end that “The Scarlet Ibis” was beautiful nonetheless. Few stories set up as real and human characters in such a short time. …show more content…
Fewer among those develop them throughout the story. James Hurst does this so well that it’s as if they are real. Most books’ characters become worn stretched-too-thin-for-too-long shadows of what they are meant as. Most books’ characters become old, as they repeat mistakes over and over again. Hurst, with this tale, yells ‘No More!’ to the world, and challenges everyone to aspire higher. The narrator, though readers never hear his name, becomes such a human it is hard to look at him as simply a character. With statements like “I thought myself pretty smart at many things”, and “There is within me a knot of cruelty” readers feel like he could, and probably does exist, in all his evil. (Hurst) But that is just the start of the story, in the end readers hear him respond, “Who says so?” when Doodle says he can’t walk, and feel his good. (Hurst) Readers feel the narrator change and morph as the story develops, and at the end he feels entirely different from the beginning. This is the beauty of “The Scarlet Ibis”. Perhaps a reader felt the tale unfair towards humans, but is it, or does it simply portray humans so honestly and true that it seems so? Most readers miss the settings the first time, caught up as they are with the plot, and this makes it all the more effective.