<span>In the poignant short story 'The Scarlet Ibis' there are two small brothers. One has special physical needs and the other brother doesn't. This brother refuses to accept that his little playmate will never be able to join in with his games in the open freedom of the countryside, so he decides to spend every spare hour teaching him to play and run. Sometimes he teaches him a little too hard and the little boy becomes exhausted. The tired and weary bird which lands on the tree in the yard foreshadows what will happen to Doodle - the Scarlet Ibis drops exhausted from the tree - the shape of his gangly useless legs and the blood red echoing the way poor little Doodle will die. Guilt is an important theme so look for that.</span>
"The Scarlet Ibis" is a short story written by James Hurst.
The tale features a narrator who throughout the plot of the story recounts the life of his younger brother, called "Doodle" who is a very fragile and sick child, who everyone knows will not survive. The Doodle family already knows and it is already prepared that Doodle will die. The narrator gives many tips on the occasion of Doodle's death and despite his weakness he does not die, but he is a child who cannot move or speak. The narrator does not show several tips about Doodle's death, among these tips, the narrator shows the mahogany coffin that the family keeps for Doodle, names an insect named after Doodle, and describes a morbid scenario early in the story.
