A Scarlet Ibis Reading Response

Reading Response #3 "The Scarlet Ibis"

James Hurst uses foreshadowing in the story. I think he uses this because in the beginning of the story it says, "The last graveyard flowers were blooming, and their smell drifted across the cotton field and through every room of our house, speaking softly the names of our dead." When it says, "speaking softly the names of our dead," it made me think that someone was going to die. I was correct, Doodle did die. He also uses symbolism in the story. I think the ibis represented Doodle. Just like the way the ibis died, Doodle died bleeding red blood, with his legs thin and fragile in an awkward position like the ibis. The story is written as a flashback. Every time the narrator talks, he uses words in the past tense. This means it could have happened an hour ago but I assume that this is a flashback because his brother dies in the story. It probably took him months to get over it but he probably wrote this story a few years after Doodle's death because that's around the time people get comfortable talking about a family member's death. I think they were from the mid-west because I know for a fact that they aren't from the south. When the narrator uses dialogue, their accent isn't southern because they don't use words like ya'll but they still kind of have a mid-west accent. He calls his mom "Mama" and when their aunt talks she says "Dead birds is bad luck" instead of "Dead birds are bad luck." I think Hurst's purpose of writing the story is to show how siblings treat each other. Instead of having a good sibling relationship, many brothers and sisters yell and scream at each other and just fight all the time. The narrator treated Doodle like trash and forced him to do things he didn't want to. My sister and I used to fight all the time when we were younger but now we don't even talk. I find these types of relationships very disappointing and I think James Hurst is trying to express that.

In "The Scarlet Ibis," the narrator and Doodle loved to go to the Old Woman Swamp. There, they picked flowers, gathered honeysuckle, and weave grass into crowns and necklaces. Also, Doodle learned to walk there. The narrator was so determined that his crippled brother could walk, one day, after many weeks of trying, Doodle walked. Without the Old Woman Swamp, Doodle probably would've never walked because that was the most private place for them to hangout.

In my opinion, I thought "The Scarlet Ibis," was a great story. I don't really like short stories but this one is different. While reading this story, I made a connection. This is because I have a sibling as well. I can feel what the narrator felt like when Doodle couldn't walk. I wouldn't want my sister or I to get made fun of because she couldn't walk. Also,