After reading "The Scarlet Ibis" respond:
The narrator says, "There is within me...a knot of cruelty borne by the stream of love." Think about your relationships with people you love, especially in your family. Think about your response on the Google doc to the question: can love and cruelty coexist?
In a thoughtful paragraph, starting with a topic sentence, discussing specific details, and ending with a concluding sentence, write your response.
Here is my response:
In "The Scarlet Ibis" by James Hurst, the author shows readers that love and cruelty can, and in fact, do coexist; this is relationship however that is inevitably going to fail. The narrator is embarrassed of his brother he nicknamed Doodle, wishing he had never been born; "It was bad enough having an invalid brother, but having one who possibly was not all there was unbearable, so I began to make plans to kill him by smothering him with a pillow" ("Short Story Packet" 47). The narrator actually never acts on these plans and instead concocts plans to help him learn to walk, to swim, and to run. He becomes so proud of Doodle's accomplishments, that he even plans a surprise for his family showing them he learned to walk. The narrator struggles with the love he feels for his brother and his hatred at his brother being so different. In the end, though, it was the narrator's hatred and selfish behavior that led to Doodle's death; this is the destruction that was bound to happen. Cruelty should never be a part of love.
*** Make sure you are using at least 1 quote that has a lead-in prior to the quote.
*** Make sure to use in-text citations (see mine above)
*** Make sure to use proper capitalization, punctuation, and spelling.
posted by Davis @ 11:55 AM
40 Comments:
At 1:14 PM ,
Sam Crawford said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
At 2:03 PM ,
Sam Crawford said...
In the "Scarlet Ibis" by James Hurst Doodle and the narrator prove that love and cruelty can coexist by their love-hate relationship. Doodle and the narrator definitely have a love hate relationship by the way they treat each other. You can tell the narrator does not love him at first:"It was bad enough having an invalid brother, but having one who possibly wasn't thee was unbearable"(Short Story...47). Doodle though loves his brother because he always wants to follow him wherever he goes. However if the narrator truly did love him he would have no problem taking him places. In the end though the cost of finding out how much he really loved Doodle was for Doodle to die, then he realized he did truly love his brother.
At 2:17 PM ,
Nick Spencer said...
In the "Scarlet Ibis" by James Hurst, the narrator describes his love hate relationship with his struggling brother. He shows that love and cruelty can exist together, but it never turns out well. The narrator pushed his brother so much that Doodle ended up dying from it. "He had been bleeding from the mouth, and his neck and the front of his shirt were stained a brilliant red" (Short Story...52). The narrators love for his younger brother went too far and he started to help him only for himself. The narrator truly loved Doodle but his cruelty lead to Doodle's death.
At 2:49 PM ,
valgavi23 said...
In the story "Scarlet Ibis" by James Hurst, the narrator shares a love hate relationship with his little brother Doodle. It shows that love and cruelity can exist together even though it may not be the best choice. He pushes Doodle to such and extreme he ends up crying. All Doodle ever wanted to do is stay along side his brother even though he couldn't bear to keep tugging along with him. "Doodle was both tired and frightened, and when he stepped from the skiff he collapsed onto the mind". (Short Story...52). The narrator obviosly did love his brother, but some of the things he did were cruel to the point that Doodle collapsed.
At 3:37 PM ,
baby_chick123 said...
Caitlin Hanson Hour 5 9/21/09
In the story "The Scarlet Ibis" by James Hurst, the narrator shows that ina relationship there can be both love and cruelty excisting. The story shows that the narrator will be cruel to his brother by pushing him to do things that he simply just cant do the same way other boys can. "Doodle was both tired and frightened, and when he stepped from the skiff he collapsed onto the mud" ("Short Story...52"). The narrator also shows that he loves Doodle in a certain way that others wouldnt really understand. "When Doodle was five years old, I was embarrassed at having a brother of that age who couldn't walk, so I set out to teach him." ("Short Story...48"). As you can see relationships between people can be between both love and hate.
At 3:48 PM ,
Moriah said...
In "The Scarlot Ibis" by James Hurst, the narrator and his brother, Doodle, share a love and cruelty relationship. Cruelty does not belong with love, but can exist with love as the narrator shows us. The narrator taught Doodle how to walk and just showed his parents and grandma, and cried. "They did not know that I did it for myself, that pride, whose slave I was, spoke to me louder than all their voices, and that Doodle walked only because I was ashamed to have a crippled brother."(Short Story Packet 49). The narrator didn't just help his brother because he felt bad for his brother. He helped his brother because he was embarrassed of having to push around a cripple all the time. We also know that the narrator did love his brother because his brother loved him a ton, and for one person to love another person they will eventually give up if they don't get some love of some kind back from the person they love. "Don't leave me. Don't leave me."(Short Story Packet 48).
At 4:05 PM ,
da-artistBS said...
Bailey Smith
period 6
In James Hurst's short story "The Scarlet Ibis", the author uses the relationship between the main character and his brother to show that both love and cruelty cannot exist in a healthy relationship. Cruelty is a derivative of hate; love and hate simply don't coexist. In the end of the story, the narrator flees his brother in a fit of cruel rage (or humiliation). "The knowledge that Doodle's and my plans had come to a naught was bitter, and that streak of cruelty within me awakened. I ran as fast as I could, leaving him far behind... "(Short Story packet 52). Because he left his brother behind, Doodle ends up dying what seems like a horrible death. Yes, the narrator does mourn over his brother, but only because he is overwhelmed with guilt. Like many murderers, rapists, and commen criminals, they express guilt and remorse only after they have been caught or their actions negitivily effect them. In the end, the narrator did love and hate his brother, but since this relationship was doomed from the start, one ends up dead and one ends up scarred for life.
At 4:11 PM ,
Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
At 4:15 PM ,
Anonymous said...
In "The Scarlet Ibis" by James Hurst, the narrator shows that love and cruelty can coexist in a relationship. In relationships like this the love usually comes after the cruelty or after the person is gone then you realize how much you loved them and how much you miss them. In the story the narrator loved Doodle and appreciated him after he was gone " Doodle was the best brother a person could have..."( Short Story packet first page). This shows that the narrator loved him and was cruel to him he was practically what killed Doodle. So love and cruelty can coexist in 1 relationship
At 5:45 PM ,
C.P. said...
In "The Scarlet Ibis" by James Hurst, the narrator tells about his love and hate reationship with his brother. It seems like the brother didnt really love Doodle until he was gone "He had been bleeding from the mouth, and his neck and the front of his shirt were stained a brilliant red" (Short Story...52). The fact that his brother died because of his act seemed to finally awaken the love inside him. Alot of people dont seems to realize what they have until they loose it. In this case he lost someone he loved, and it was due to his own actons.
At 7:09 PM ,
Luke Marshall said...
In “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, love and cruelty do exist in the same relationship. The narrator shows cruelty to Doodle; “A long list of don’ts went with him, all of which I ignored once we got out of the house” (Short Story… 48). This shows that the narrator doesn’t seem to care that much about Doodle. But then again it does shoe he loves Doodle; “doodle told them it was I who had taught him to walk, so everyone wanted to hug me, and I began to cry” (Short story… 49). This shows he loves him because he taught him to walk and he didn’t give up.
At 7:34 PM ,
Jenny L said...
Writer James Hurst explains to readers in “The Scarlet Ibis” that love and hatred can happen in a relationship. The relationship is not a strong one though; the narrator is ashamed of his younger brother whom he nicks names Doodle. He wants Doodle to be able to walk, run, and swim just like every other boy in his class. The narrator teaches Doodle all these skills out of spite so he won’t have a brother who is different. The narrator states this when Doodle shows his parents how he taught him to walk; “Doodle walked only because I was ashamed of having a crippled brother” (“Short Story Packet” 49). The narraoror tries so hard to make Doodle “normal” but it is too much for him to handle and he does die from it. When Doodle is alive the narrator does not realize how much he loves his brother, he only sees him as a burden.
At 7:35 PM ,
Anonymous said...
In the story, "The Scarlet Ibis," by James Hurst, the author shows that love and cruelty can coexist together in a relationship. When the main character pushes Doodle to learn how to walk, he does it to save his own reputation, and keep his pride. Doodle was born a caul, and had been unable to walk since birth. But when Doodle is getting ready to start school, the main character wants his little brother to know how to walk. He and his brother push very hard to reach their goal by the end of the summer, which was that Doodle would know how to fight, swim, walk, and run. Unfortunately, Doodle begins to look feverish nearing the end of th story. Their mother watches him closely, and soon enough, Doodle and his brother realize that they pushed themselves too hard. The sad thing was that they lied to their parents and Aunt Nicey. They had no idea that they were teaching Doodle all the skills he would need in the real world. Eventually, the lies caught up with them; "My lies were scary, involved, and usually pointless..." (Short Story...49). This quote shows that the main character had many things to learn. Such as obedience. He disobeyed not only his parents, but the doctors that took care of Doodle. He if he really loved his brother, he would know that pushing Doodle too hard would eventually hurt him, if not sooner than he expects. In the end, the cruelty inside him comes alive, and he deserts his brother during a storm out in the rain. He goes to get Doodle, but he had died before he reached him. He had been bleeding from his mouth, and his neck and chest were stained red. His head was limp, and he looked fragile. His parents probably never found out why he died, unless the main character told them out of guilt, knowing that he had killed his own brother to protect his selfish pride.
At 7:41 PM ,
tyler d said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
At 7:44 PM ,
tyler d said...
Tyler Davis
In James Hurst's "The Scarlet Ibis" The narrator shows that love and hate can exist in the same relationship. “A long list of don’ts went with him, all of which I ignored once we got out of the house” (Short Story… 48) It seems the narrator doesn't mind risking his brothers health which seems some what hateful. The narrator shows Doodle as a burden and a hassel. When Doodle dies though the narrator shows his love for his brother. Love and hate can and do coexist in relationships especially in the relatioship of two brothers.
At 8:10 PM ,
JTJ10 said...
In the story, "The Scarlet Ibis", by James Hurst, it is shown that love and cruelty can coexist in a relationship. Although the narrator is embarressed by is brother, he comes to his senses and comes to love him. The narrator tries to make his brother, Doodle, walk, then run, paddle, fight, and many other things. Eventually Doodle thinks he has gone to far, eventhough he loves Doodle; "Doodle was both tired and frightened, and when he stepped from the skiff he collapsed onto the mud, sending an armada of fiddler crabs rustling off iinto the marsh" ("Short Story Packet" pg 52). This quote tells that the narrator pushed Doodle to far and made him collapse. The narrorator shows that love and cruelty can be in a relationship, but it will not allways work out.
At 8:35 PM ,
Katey said...
The story "The Scarlet Ibis" by James Hurst shows that cruelty and love do coexist; the narrator is embarrased that he had a little brother who wasn't normal. He teaches his little brother Doodle how to walk, but only for his own pride. He says, "Doodle walked only because I was ashamed of having a crippled brother” (“Short Story Packet” 49). This shows me that he doesn't really care about how his brother feels and he doesn't really love him. Once the narrator realized that he tought Doodle something that the doctors said he couldn't do, he wanted to teach him other things that would make him even more normal. When they worked for hours together helping Doodle, I think that the narrator isn't just doing it for himself, he is also doing it for Doodle a little. Once Doodle dies, I think the narrator finally realizes that he did love Doodle and didn't teach him things just for himself. He pushed Doodle really hard at times, maybe even too hard, but he loved him and he was trying to help him. This is showing that there is cruelty in his love.
At 9:07 PM ,
Davis said...
Students, I am SO impressed with your thinking and your formal writing. Thank you for being focused students intent on improving your writing. Well done!
At 9:06 AM ,
theshort1 said...
In the story "The Scarlet Ibis" by James Hurst, shows that cruelty and love do exist. The narrator, wants to teach his younger brother how to walk out out pride and selfishness because he is embrassed that he can not walk yet. As he say "doodle walked only because i was ashamed of having a cripled brother".The narrator loves his younger brother but in a cruel way. He over works his brother because he "loves" him so much but really he only cares about himself. The narroter loves his brother so cruly that he is the cause of doodles death.
At 11:33 AM ,
Lexi612 said...
"The Scarlet Ibis" by James Hurst shows that love and cruelty can coexist, with the narroator and Doodle's relationship. The narrorator has a brother Doodle, who has trouble walking so he trys to help him by giving him challanges everyday. Finally Doodle can walk and after a long day of rowing he was tired and his brother left him behind. "Don't leave me!"cried Doodle after his brother but he kept going until Doodle's cries stopped. When he went back Doodle was dead. He loved Doodle and showed that by trying to help him but he went to far and Doodle died.
At 2:20 PM ,
Zach said...
Zachary Lodge
Mrs. Davis
Love/Cruelty
Love and cruelty can’t coexist in the same relationship because they are opposites, and if someone loves someone they are not cruel to them. There can be times where someone may be unkind in a relationship, but that is different than cruelty. Cruelty is when someone purposefully and repeatedly is unkind to someone. In a relationship one of the people might say something they didn’t mean but they will apologize for it and try to not do it again. Love in a relationship means that people will try to avoid being unkind to the other person. Cruelty is hatred, and love is the ability to have friends and family.
At 4:31 PM ,
VMata said...
In James Hurst’s , “The Scarlet Ibis”, readers’ learn that love and cruelty can coexist in a relationship, especially the one between Doodle and the narrator, because through hard times love conquers over all. The narrator begins his story by explaining the fact that he wanted his brother, Doodle, to not be crippled so he would no longer need to haul him around everywhere he went. Though, the narrator soon finds a different solution to his problems,that is bedsides killing Doodle. Instead, he teaches Doodle to walk, swim and row a boat, though not for the sake of Doodle, but the pride of himself. “He smiled at me ashamedly he had failed and we both knew it.” (Short Story Packet p.52). It seemed as though Doodle was doing all he could to please the narrator, Doodle felt guilt when he had not done his task correct for he knew that he had not pleased the narrator. At this point of the story it seemed as though the narrator had no love for Doodle, but was being cruel. Sadly though, the story comes to a tragic end with the death of Doodle, and the narrator seems to have a change of heart. “‘Doodle!’, I screamed above the pounding storm, I threw my body above his…sheltering my fallen scarlet ibis.”(Short Story Packet p.52). I believe it was after the death of Doodle that both the reader and the narrator know that he truly loved Doodle. It way have come across that he only loved Doodle for the pride of himself, but deep inside he loved Doodle for who he was. For love is in all of us and whether we can make it coexist with cruelty depends on how much we want to show love for another. So I believe that love and cruelty can coexist because the fact that Love conquers all, no matter the circumstance.
At 5:15 PM ,
ryans2013 said...
In "The Scarlet Ibis" by James Hurst, the author shows readers that love and cruelty shouldn't coexist in a relationship but it does. there can be times when people fight and call each other mean words but the people will get over it. As the older brother says to Doodle "come on Doodle!"(pg. 52) that is a sign of pushing in or making him get hurt and that is a form of cruelty. He pushes his brother to walk because he loves him but its cruel because he should be able to walk at his age but he is pushing him to do it. So, i believe that cruelty shouldn't coexist in a relation ship.
At 5:46 PM ,
nacho.man said...
In "The Scarlet Ibis" by James Hurst, the author shows that when love and cruelty coexist in a relationship it wont end good. As the older brother at the end of the story "...I threw my body over his...sheltering my scarlet ibis"(short story...52). I think after the reader reads that line they realize he truly loved doodle but he pushed him to far. So, if the older brother wasnt so cruel as to teach doodle to walk, swim and other stuff doodle could have lived. So I think that love and cruelty can not coexist in a relationship.
At 6:31 PM ,
mitch w said...
Mitch Wilson, davis 9
In the short story “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst, love and cruelty try and then fail to exist in the same relationship. "Doodle walked only because I was ashamed of having a crippled brother” (“Short Story Packet” 49). It may have apeared that the two brothers loved each other, but the love given by the older brother was given out of selfishness. True love can not be given out of selfishness but only by the kindness of ones heart. The relationship failed because the older brother was cruel to Doodle and he ended up dying because of it. A relationship can not exist with love and cruelty, a relationship is made up of one or the other.
At 2:23 PM ,
Anonymous said...
Katie Gillen: 6th hour
In the short story "The Scarlet Ibis" by James Hurst, the author show that a relationship can not exist wiht love and cruelty. Through out the story Doodle, nick named by his older brother, is thought how to walk again by his older brother. Though the reson behind him teaching his younger brother, he's to ashamed having a brother who couldnt walk."They did not know that I did it for myself, that pride, whose slave I was, spoke to me louder than all their voices, and that Doodle walked only because I was ashamed to have a crippled brother."(Short Story Packet 49). This presents that you can't have cruelty be a part of love. The author may have tried to write this in a way that he did love Doodle, but from how he tought him to walk was through his own happiness. Therefore, love and cruelty can not coexist in a relationship.
At 6:22 PM ,
Allen said...
Can love and cruelty coexist in a relationship? Yes it can, but to a certain digree and only in certain ways if you want to make a relationship last. In a relationship there can be things that one may not like about the other or one may treat there mate bad to a point but to try and teach them something, get them to stop doing something (drugs, tabbaco, alcohal, and other things that I should probably not mention in a school paper). On the other hand, some people can be to cruel, for example the man could do things such as hit there girl and abuse them; woman can olso be cruel though by doing things like being with the man only for his money or just useing him to look good for a job or friends maybe. The biggest one though is both the male and female can cheat on each other with other people. "The ones that hurts you the most are the ones that love you the most"-miscellaneous. Why would this be so? Maybe it's because they feel so comfterble and just loved when they are with you that when they're angry and they go off it seem more towrard you and they take everything out on you but Later they will feel really guilty and wish they could take it back but no matter what they will still love you and care for you. All in all yes, love and cruelty can coexist in a relationship but it will all depend on how the cruelty is being used and torwarded to the person.
At 6:39 PM ,
jfootball25 said...
In the short story "The Scarlet Ibis" written by James Hurst, love and cruelty can not exist in a relationship. The main charactor is a little boy named Doodle that has hard times walking. His older brother the narrator is trying to teach Doodle to walk by working every day. One day he told him "come on Doodle you can do it" and then he could walk because of the love his brother gave to Doodle. There was no cruelty in him teaching him how to walk. Therefore,love and cruelty can not exist in a relationship.
At 9:03 AM ,
Prettynpink62091 said...
In the story "The Scarlet Ibis" by James Hurst, I can deffiantly see that love and cruelty can exist in the same relation ship.."They did not know that I did it for myself, that pride, whose slave I was, spoke to me louder than all their voices, and that Doodle walked only because I was ashamed to have a crippled brother."(Short Story Packet 49). This is where I can see the cruelty in the relation ship but when you get to the end of the story when Doodle dies you can clearly see that the Narrator - Doodles brother, was very upset to the fact that he just lost him, you would not be that upset about someone if you hated him. Yes Doodles brother was selfish and only thought about himself but, it turns out in the end that he did love his brother and he did care for him. You don't realize what you have till you loose it.
Jolene Zummo
Period 6
At 11:52 AM ,
KWERNER said...
Kurtis Werner
Block 6
Can love and cruelty coexist?
Yes love and cruelty can coexist like in the short story the scarlet Ibis. Were the narrator was embarrassed be his little brother doodle. But after a while he starts to care in love for him. Like showing him how to walk run and swim. He was proud of Doodle but most of all it was for his pride. This led to Doodle death after he pushed him to hard.
At 8:12 PM ,
Justin said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
At 6:22 PM ,
JM65 said...
Jalin McKinnon
P6
In the story "The Scarlet Ibis" by James Hurst, love and cutely can and do exist because in the story the narrator loves his brother but at the same time he is only doing this for pride because he will feel good about himself if he teaches his brother to walk, swim, clime, run, swim, ex.
At 9:42 AM ,
Justin said...
In the story "The scarlet ibis" by James Hurst love and curlety can coexist because the older brother was doing it for him self but at the same time he did love him when his brother died he was there crying over him and was sad. But he also got him killed by not satying with him so love and curley can coexist.
At 12:53 PM ,
isaac3777ahsfootball said...
isaac prudhomme the story the scarlit ibis by james hurst an older brothers love to fix his yonger brother leads them on a ride.in the end his yonger brother pushed to much and in the end hes just like the scarlit ibis
At 5:49 PM ,
KWERNER said...
Kurtis Werner
Block 6
Can love and cruelty coexist?
Yes love and cruelty can coexist like in the short story the Scarlet Ibis. The narrator was embarrassed by his little brother, Doodle but after a while he starts to care and love him. Doodle could not walk, run or do any physical activities so the narrator decided to show him how to walk, run, and swim. He was proud of Doodle for his accomplishments, but more than that, he was glad he didn’t have to carry him around. Every time the narrator tried to go somewhere Doodle would cry “Don’t leave me, don’t leave me.” (Short Story Packet 48). So finally Doodle learned how to walk after much practice with his brother. One night he was teaching Doodle and a huge storm came in and the narrator ran and forgot about Doodle. When he finally realized he forgot him and went back to get him, he found him dead.
At 11:51 AM ,
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