The Scarlet Ibis

By James HurstThe Scarlet IbisSettingTime: 1912-1918World War I; summerPlace: North Carolina; cotton farm; Old Woman Swamp.

Point of ViewThe Scarlet Ibis is told through first person point of view.The narrator is Doodles older brother.The narrator tells the story using flashback.Flashback: the author or narrator depicts events which have taken place before the present time. ConflictMan vs. Man: the struggle exists between the narrator and Doodle.James Hurst uses the war raging among brothers in Europe to demonstrate the conflict between the narrator and Doodle.

AllusionsThere are three allusions in The Scarlet Ibis.Battle sites of WWI: Chateau-Thierry, Soissons, and Belleau WoodThe story of Hansel and Gretel: It was too late to turn back, for we had both wandered too far into a net of expectations and had left no crumbs behind.Biblical Resurrection: If we produced anything less than the Resurrection, [Aunt Nicey] was going to be disappointed.

ForeshadowingSummer of 1918 was devastating: plant growth was replaced by death and decay. Clue that Doodles growth will be replaced by death and decay.The fall of the Ibis.Clue that Doodle will fall later in the story.Dead birds are bad luck.

ImageryDeath imagery appears throughout The Scarlet Ibis.Examples:Bleeding treeRotting brown magnoliaIronweeds grew rankGraveyard flowersMahogany boxBlack clouds, darkness descended

SimilesSimile: a comparison of two unlike things that uses the word like or asExamples:William Armstrongs name is like putting a big tail on a small kite.Promise hung about us like leaves.Hope no longer hid in the dark palmetto thicket, but perched like a cardinal in the lacy toothbrush tree, brilliantly visible.

MetaphorsMetaphor: a comparison of two unlike things without using the words like or asExamples:There is within me (and with sadness I have watched it in others) a knot of cruelty borne by the stream of love, much as our blood sometimes bears the seed of our destruction.Pride is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines, life and death.

SymbolsSymbol: a person, place, or thing used to represent something else.The main symbol in the story is the scarlet ibis which represents Doodle.

ThemeOne of the possible themes of The Scarlet Ibis is pride is destructive.Lines like the following support this theme:All of us must have something to be proud of.Pride is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines, life and death.