The Scarlet Ibis

by James Hurst · 1960

Our narrator, a grown man, tells us about his memories of Doodle, his younger brother. We jump into the past as the narrator begins his story about his brother. The narrator is six years old when Doodle is born. Doodle is… more

12 quotes ★ 3.86 (8,412) Classics

Quotes from the Book

Pride is a wonderful terrible thing a seed that bears two vines life and death.

There is within me a knot of cruelty borne by the stream of love, much as our blood sometimes bears the seed of our destruction ...

All of us must have something or someone to be proud of.

They did not know that I did it for myself; that pride, whose slave I was, spoke to me louder than al their voices, and that Doodle walked only because I was ashamed of having a crippled brother.

For a long time, I lay there crying, sheltering my fallen scarlet ibis from the heresy of rain.

What are the words that can solder cracked pride?

Brother, Brother, don't leave me! Don't leave me!

I did not know the that pride is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines, life and death.

Hope no longer hid in the dark palmetto thicket but perched like a cardinal in the lacy toothbrush tree, brilliantly visible.

We'd bedeck ourselves with our handiwork and loll about thus beautified, beyond the touch of the everyday world.

Of course, he wasn't a CRAZY crazy like old Miss Leedie, who was in love with President Wilson and wrote him a love letter every day, but was a nice crazy, like someone you meet in your dreams.

Oh yes you can, Doodle,' I said. 'All you got to do is try.

Watch on YouTube

Stanley St RoseThe Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst Summary and Analysis
tim mcgeeJames Hurst’s The Scarlet Ibis, B
ddrake45An Analysis of The Scarlet Ibis

About James Hurst

We have collected 12 quotes from 1 book by James Hurst on BookQuoters.

More about the author →

About the book

Our narrator, a grown man, tells us about his memories of Doodle, his younger brother. We jump into the past as the narrator begins his story about his brother.

The narrator is six years old when Doodle is born. Doodle is a sickly child, and everyone but Aunt Nicey thinks he will die. Daddy even buys Doodle a coffin. When Doodle has lived for two months, Mama and Daddy name him William Armstrong. The narrator doesn't think the name suits him, so he nicknames him Doodle.

This is a tragic short story following the narrator as he tries to teach his weak younger brother to walk and play like a normal boy. It was first published in The Atlantic Monthly and won the "Atlantic First" award.