Brother Vs. The Scarlet Ibis: A Literary Analysis

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“If thy brother wrongs thee, remember not so much his wrong doing, but more than ever that he is thy brother.” –Epictetus What Epictetus is saying here is that brothers may not always get along or treat each other well, but in the end you should always remember him as your family and someone you love. In these three stories, The Sniper, The Most Dangerous Game, and The Scarlet Ibis, this is a concept that the brothers have a hard time relating to. In these stories the brothers have done awful things to each other and resent one another for it. The relationship of two brothers is a thing that can be very delicate and can be hurt easily, which is why the theme of brother vs. brother was a perfect theme to have in all three stories. Brother vs.…show more content…
brother out of these three stories. The Scarlet Ibis is a story about two brothers. One brother, Doodle was born with a disability, which nearly cost him his life but he over came it and lived beyond the doctor’s expectations. The other brother who was the narrator resents Doodle and is embarrassed by his disability. Throughout the story the narrator pushes Doodle to do things like normal boys things that Doodle couldn’t do because of his disability. “[I, Doodle] just can’t do it…Doodle don’t you want to walk? He’d nod his head, and [the narrator] would say, well if you don’t keep trying, you’ll never learn” (318-319). Throughout the story the boys are fighting against each other along with other conflicts. Doodle is fighting against his disability to get his brother to accept him. The narrator is fighting against the disability and is in denial of the fact that Doodle can’t be normal; these are both displayed in the quote. They are fighting against each other for the same thing. Doodle doesn’t see why he should have to do things to defeat his disability; he just fights so his brother will spend time with him and love him. The narrator doesn’t understand why Doodle doesn’t care about being normal because he thinks having Doodle always clinging to him is embarrassing and annoying. They are both trying to defeat the disability but for different reasons. In the end the narrator get so fed up with Doodle he indirectly causes Doodle’s death. In this story, they are real brothers; we know their history together, and they know that they’re fighting each other, which are all the aspects of the definition of brother vs. brother. Which is why The Scarlet Ibis is the best example of brother vs.
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