Question

The narrator is reflecting about the past. How can we tell this? The scarlet ibis

Answer 1

Answer and Explanation:

"The Scarlet Ibis" is a short story by James Hurst. These lines are at the beginning of the story:

Summer was dead, but autumn had not yet been born when the ibis came to the bleeding tree. I

t's strange that all this is so clear to me, now that time has had its way. But sometimes (like right now) I sit in the cool green parlor, and I remember Doodle.

The underlined portion is in the Present tense. It shows that the narrator is, at this very moment, sitting and remembering his brother. The highlighted portion, however, is in the Past tense. It shows the narrator is already reflecting about events from his past. The excerpt shows the narrator is not talking about the present, about what he is living now. He is referring to past happenings, to something that is now gone, and that he can only reminisce about. It is the use of the Past tense that shows us that.