What does "The Scarlet Ibis" symbolize and how does it represent Doodle?

The scarlet ibis symbolizes Doodle in that both are fragile and lovely creatures of nature who die too soon.

The handicapped Doodle's love of nature is established early in the story. The narrator, Brother, who does much of the caretaking of the younger boy, drags him in a cart to Old Woman Swamp. Doodle cries because the place is so beautiful that it makes him happy. Because Doodle as such an affinity for this natural setting, Brother takes him there often. It is in the swamp that Doodle is able to learn to walk.

Doodle is the one who first hears the sounds of the scarlet ibis in the tree outside the family's dining room window. He goes outside to see the bird, and the rest of the family follows. Like Doodle, the bird seems out of place, and it soon falls from the tree and dies:

It lay on the earth like a broken vase of red flowers, and even death could not mar its beauty.

Doodle feels a kinship with the bird and decides he will bury it.

Soon after this, Doodle and Brother go the Horsehead Landing so that Doodle can have a swimming lesson. Like the bird, Doodle falls down. Brother runs away him from in a thunder storm, though he knows Doodle is frightened. When he goes back to find him, he discovers that Doodle, like the scarlet ibis, has died and is bloodstained. Lest we miss the symbolism, Brother calls him "my fallen scarlet ibis." Doodle is a beautiful creature of nature too fragile to survive.

What is Doodle's disease in "The Scarlet Ibis"?

From the description of Doodle as being "all head," he might have been born with a birth defect called hydrocephaly. Normally, spinal fluid is produced inside the brain to cushion and protect it. Babies born with hydrocephaly produce too much spinal fluid, which causes their heads to grow too large. Often growth of the head can be controlled with a permanent shunt that drains the excess spinal fluid into the stomach. However, the child will most likely have learning disorders. If the child doesn't receive the shunt, then the head will continue to grow, and the excess spinal fluid will put too much pressure on the brain. Life expectancy would not be long.

I know a young man who was born with this condition. Sadly, his birth mother abandoned him when she saw what he looked like, but he was adopted by wonderful parents who made sure he got the shunt surgeries he needed. He is legally blind, and he has a low IQ, but he is able to take care of himself. He went to auto/diesel school and has a career as a mechanic.

Visit the links below for more information on this birth defect.

Doodle is mentally and physically retarded. According to the story, Doodle is born brain damaged which causes him to have underdeveloped muscle coordination.  He cannot walk. His heart was weak.  He had little physical strength. The quote refers to Doodle being born in a caul, or a membrane that surrounds a baby's head. 

"He seemed all head, with a tiny body which was red and shriveled like an old man's.  She said he would live because he was born in a caul,  and cauls were made from Jesus' nightgown." (pg. 1 Hurst)

"The doctor said that with his weak heart this strain would probably kill him". (pg. 1 Hurst)

When William Armstrong, otherwise known as "Doodle," is born, his brother describes him as being "all head, with a tiny body which was red and shriveled like an old man's." Doodle is then diagnosed with a heart condition, and everyone believes that he is going to die. From the start, Doodle is frail and weak, and it seems that he will never learn to walk.

Yet the narrator has other plans for his baby brother. Doodle doesn't die as an infant, and as he continues to grow, the narrator begins to believe that Doodle can become more than the world expects of him. When Doodle begins to crawl, the doctor warns the family about overexertion:

The doctor had said that he mustn't get too excited, too hot, too cold, or too tired and that he must always be treated gently. A long list of don'ts went with him, all of which I ignored once we got out of the house.

As Doodle grows, he wants to be with his older brother more and more. When he turns five, the narrator is determined that Doodle learn how to walk. After weeks of practicing, Doodle is finally able to stand alone for a few seconds. Both boys are elated, and they secretly keep working on Doodle's endurance. At his sixth birthday, they surprise the family by having Doodle walk independently across the room.

The narrator keeps challenging his brother, whose energy begins to falter. One evening, they go out in a little boat and a storm blows in. They race back to the shore as lightning crashes around them, and when Doodle steps out of the boat, he collapses into the mud. He begs his older brother not to leave him, but the narrator races ahead of him until he can no longer hear his brother's voice.

Doodle never catches up, and eventually, the narrator goes back to look for him. He finds his younger brother sitting on the ground, his face buried in his arms. When the narrator touches him, Doodle limply falls to the earth.

Because Doodle was born with a heart condition, his health was always fragile. The family had been warned not to overexert him, and the narrator had pushed Doodle to his physical limits for over a year. He missed subtle clues that Doodle was growing weaker, not stronger; and this final moment out on the lake was likely Doodle's physical breaking point. It is also likely that Doodle felt that he had not lived up to his older brother's expectations, and this sense of defeat caused him to simply give up as he sat abandoned in a storm.

Is Doodle a round or flat character in "The Scarlet Ibis"?

A round character is a character that displays several different character traits. Often, these types of characters are considered to be well-developed, multidimensional, and realistic. Doodle is a round character. He is more than a stereotypical annoying little brother. That would be a flat character. Despite his handicap, Doodle is smart, imaginative, caring, and loving. We see his imaginative side when Brother tells us that Doodle made up "crazy" stories about winged people. Readers get to see his joy and sensitivity about life's beautiful things when he sees the swamp:

His eyes were round with wonder as he gazed about him, and his little hands began to stroke the rubber grass. Then he began to cry. . . . "It's so pretty," he said. "So pretty, pretty, pretty."

We also get to see Doodle express fear when he is worried that his older brother is going to leave him behind in the barn loft. Finally, we also know that Doodle looks up to his brother and is fearful about disappointing his idol. Doodle is a well-developed and round character, and that is precisely why it is so maddening that Doodle dies in the end.

In James Hurst's short story "The Scarlet Ibis" Doodle should definitely be considered a round character. A round character is one who displays many different character traits. They are three dimensional and realistic. Doodle is a sensitive, smart and imaginative young boy despite being physically handicapped. He reveals his sensitivity early in the story when he is fearful of being left behind in the loft of the barn when his brother, who was displaying his mean streak, showed Doodle the coffin which had been built for him when he was still an infant. He also shows his sensitivity to the beauty of nature when his brother first takes him to Old Woman Swamp:

His eyes were round with wonder as he gazed about him, and his little hands began to stroke the rubber grass Then he began to cry..."It's so pretty," he said. "So pretty, pretty, pretty."

Doodle has an amazing imagination for a boy his age. His brother says that Doodle made up "lies" which were "crazy" with people who "had wings and flew wherever they wanted to go." Doodle's main character is a boy named Peter who "wore a golden robe" and "had a pet peacock with a ten-foot tail." These stories seem to suggest that Doodle would like to transcend his physical limitations, but also that the boy has a bright and extraordinary imagination.

Doodle reveals an inquisitive nature and more sensitivity when he becomes interested in the scarlet ibis which flies into the family's yard. He is the first to get to it and insists on burying it. He even sings "Shall We Gather at the River" over the bird's grave. Finally, Doodle is able to recognize his limitations and that he has disappointed his brother by not living up to his brother's expectations:

He had failed and we both knew it, so we started back home, racing the storm. We never spoke (What are the words that can solder cracked pride?), but I knew he was watching me, watching for a sign of mercy. 

Why are Doodle's parents naming him William Armstrong in "The Scarlet Ibis"?

The story doesn't give a specific "this is why" reason for why Doodle's parents name him William Armstrong.  There is a big hint at the reason from Brother; however, the story is told from Brother's perspective, so the reason might be Brother's interpretation of Doodle's legal name.  

To begin with, Doodle's parents did not expect him to live very long.  When Doodle defied the odds and lived to be three months old, his parents decided that they had better give him a proper name.  They name him William Armstrong.  It's a good, solid sounding name, and that is what Brother comments on.  He says that William Armstrong is not a name that fits Doodle.  The name is only a good name because it will look good on a tombstone.  That's really depressing to think that Doodle's parents picked William Armstrong because it would appear strong and wonderful on Doodle's grave.  

Daddy had Mr. Heath, the carpenter, build a little mahogany coffin for him. But he didn't die, and when he was three months old, Mama and Daddy decided they might as well name him. They named him William Armstrong, which is like tying a big tail on a small kite. Such a name sounds good only on a tombstone.

What do Doodle's reactions in "The Scarlet Ibis" reveal about his character?

Doodle demonstrates his own unique personality with his sheer force of will, imagination, and with his appreciation for the aesthetic.

Force of will

• While the doctor predicted after Doodle's birth that the strain of turning over or really moving would probably kill him because of his weak heart, he yet learns to crawl and "[F]or the first time he became one of us," the brother narrates.
• When the brother is irritated that he must pull Doodle around in a wagon and tries to discourage Doodle from coming with him by whisking the wagon around curves on two wheels, Doodle tenaciously holds on to the sides of the wagon. The brother narrates, "Finally, I could see I was licked."
• Despite the doctor's predictions, Doodle learns to walk so that he can be with his brother. "Doodle walked only because I was ashamed of having a crippled brother."
• Doodle learns to swim only as a willful response of his brother's insistence, despite his not sleeping well at night after he exerts himself so strenuously.
• Despite his mother's admonition to not touch the fallen scarlet ibis, Doodle insists upon burying it.
• Doodle exerts himself in his effort to run after his brother in the storm, although his refusal to give up costs him his life.

Imagination

Doodle's stories are very creative, assuming the elements of fable: The people in his narratives have wings and fly wherever they please; a boy wears a golden robe that 

glittered so brightly that when he walked through the sunflowers, they turned away from the sun to face him.                            

This boy owns a resplendent peacock whose magnificent tail covers the boy at night "burying him in the gloriously iridescent, rustling vortex."

Appreciation for the aesthetic 

• When the brother takes Doodle to Old Woman Swamp,

...down into the green dimness where palmetto fronds whispered by the stream...His eyes were round with wonder as he gazed about him. 

Doodle is so moved by the beauty of this area that the sensitive boy cries.

• After the scarlet ibis lands in the tree and then dies, Doodle recognizes it as a unique thing of beauty and feels compelled to bury it, singing softly Shall We gather at the River.

How does the narrator describe Doodle in "The Scarlet Ibis"?

The main thing about the description that is important is that the narrator is disappointed in Doodle.  Clearly, he expected a brother who could play with him, and when Doodle is born, he realizes that will not be the case.  “He was born when I was six and was, from the outset, a disappointment.”  He describes Doodle as having a big head, with a tiny, red, shriveled body.  The narrator does not like it that his brother is handicapped and that people call him crazy.  “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.”  The narrator is not happy until he sees evidence that Doodle is “all there.”  At first, when Doodle begins to move around, he crawls backwards.  As he gets older, he has to be towed in a wagon by his brother, who is very embarrassed by this.  “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.”  This is when the narrator decides to make Doodle his "project," which turns out to be the wrong decision.  

In "The Scarlet Ibis," how does Doodle demonstrate his unique personality?

Doodle's personality emerges through the strength of his determination to live against all odds.  Although Doodle can only crawl backwards, which is how he gets the name Doodle, which is given to him by Brother.  He acquires the ability to walk to please Brother.  His real distinction, his gentle spirit is expressed, especially through his attention to the Scarlet Ibis.

"He is the first to notice the visiting ibis and honors the bird by giving it a careful burial while finding a way of respecting his mother's orders not to touch it. The fact that Doodle is the only member of the family to care for the scarlet ibis enough to bury it shows his compassionate heart and emphasizes a symbolic link between boy and bird."

Why did Doodle lie about the boy and his peacock in The Scarlet Ibis?

I've always had a small problem with Brother using the word "lie" to describe Doodle's story.  Yes, absolutely, Doodle is making up a fictional story about a boy named Peter and a beautiful peacock; however, I have a hard time calling it a lie.  Doodle isn't telling the story to get out of trouble or gain something.  It's pure fantasy.  My own kids run around our backyard with towels tied around their necks pretending to be superheroes with special powers.  We all know it's not the truth, which is what makes imaginary fantasy so fun.  People like to project their desires and dreams into a fantasy because it can make us feel like something that we are not.  

That's why I think that Doodle tells his story.  Doodle knows that he is physically weak.  Readers are also told in the beginning of the story that Doodle isn't proportionally correct looking, so I don't think he or anybody else would consider him beautiful.  

He was born when I was six and was, from the outset, a disappointment. He seemed all head, with a tiny body which was red and shriveled like an old man's.

Doodle's story is about a boy that wears a beautiful robe and has a beautiful pet peacock.  The entire image of those two is supposed to be so beautiful that people turn away from looking at the sun to stare at the boy and the peacock.  Even in sleep, the boy is covered in technicolor beauty.  Doodle's "lie" allows him to imagine and experience what life would be like if he were somebody that people didn't look at with pity.  

In "The Scarlet Ibis," how are Doodle and the scarlet ibis rare and unique?

Doodle, the younger brother of the narrator called "Brother" has a variety of things that make him unique. First of all, Doodle (so-named because of his habit of crawling backwards, like a "doodle bug") has a number of physical problems that set him apart from people who are "normal." He cannot walk normally, so Brother devises a wagon to pull Doodle around until Brother eventually teaches his disabled sibling to walk. But these things, the physical disabilities and challenges, are not what make Doodle "unique."

Doodle proves himself to be unique in a number of more subtle ways, not the least of which is defying the expectation that he would live at all. So sure were his parents that he would not live to see his first birthday, Doodle's father had a coffin made for his tiny, malformed son. When Doodle defies the life-sentence his doctors had given him, the coffin was stored away. In an act of cruelty that Brother would later come to regret, he shows Doodle the coffin one day: 

One day I took him up to the barn loft and showed him his casket, telling him now we all had believed he would die. It was covered with a film of Paris green sprinkled to kill the rats, and screech owls had built a nest inside it.

Doodle studied the mahogany box for a long time, then said, "It's not mine."

In addition to his will to live, Doodle is also unique because he sees things that others typically take for granted, like the beauty of the natural word. Brother takes Doodle to a favorite spot he knows named "Old Woman Swamp." While most people may not think of a swamp as beautiful, to Doodle, it is. When they arrive, to Brother's surprise, Doodle begins to cry: 

"For heaven's sake, what's the matter?" I asked, annoyed.

"It's so pretty," he said. "So pretty, pretty, pretty."

The Scarlet Ibis has much in common with this young boy. Both are rare and unique. When the rare bird crashes into a tree beside the boys' home, no one knows what it is and their father orders Brother to go find the "bird book" so they may look it up: 

"It's a scarlet ibis," he said, pointing to a picture. "It lives in the tropics--South America to Florida. A storm must have brought it here." 

Unfortunately, this rare bird does not live: 

"..the wings were uncoordinated, and amid much flapping and a spray of flying feathers, it tumbled down, bumping through the limbs of the bleeding tree and landing at our feet with a thud. Its long, graceful neck jerked twice into an S, then straightened out, and the bird was still."

The end of the story is terribly sad. Brother has always lived in a place of tension in regard to Doodle: he loves him but he is also ashamed of him and pushes him hard to be something he is not. He tries, in essence, to make something special and unique ordinary and colorless. It is not until Doodle passes away that Brother understands what a brief and special person he had had in his sibling. 

How does William Armstrong earn his nickname in The Scarlet Ibis?

William Armstrong got his unusual nickname from his older brother who thought he looked like a doodlebug when he tried to crawl as a baby.  Doodle was born with birth defects that included a large head and a small body.  When his parents name him William Armstrong, Brother remarks that it is “a name [that] sounds good only on a tombstone,” foreshadowing the eventual death of Doodle.  When Doodle starts to crawl, Brother describes him and says,

When he crawled, he crawled backwards, as if he were in reverse and couldn’t change gears.  If you called him, he’d turn around as if he were going in the other direction, then he’d back right up to you to be picked up. Crawling backward made him look like a doodlebug.

A doodlebug is an insect indigenous to the region in which the story takes place. The doodlebug is found in Texas around the Gulf coast. Brother would have seen many doodlebugs in his time; and therefore, the description appears to be appropriate.

A footnote in the copy of my story mentions that a doodlebug is also a train that goes backwards and forwards. Again, this is a fitting description of what Doodle looks like when he crawls.   

So, William Armstrong earns the nickname, Doodle, simply because of his physical limitations.

In "The Scarlet Ibis," why does Doodle make up lies about winged people?

Careful examination of this short story will help you find the answer you are looking for. We are told that Doodle and his brother, the narrator of this moving story, take up lying to help pass the time when they go out to walk. Because Doodle has recently learnt to walk for himself, we can assume that the lying was a distraction that helped him reached his destination without stopping and allowed him to gradually increase the distance he could walk when he went out with his brother. In the narrator's own words, Doodle was a "terrible liar", and his lies reflect his inability to distort the truth. We are told that he had a favourite lie:

His favourite lie was about a boy named Peter who had  apet peacock with a ten-foot tail. Peter wore a golden robe that glittered so brightly that when he walked through the sunflowers they turned away from the sun to face him. When Peter was ready to go to sleep, the peacock spread his magnificent tail, enfolding the boy gently like a closing go-to-sleep flower, burying him in the gloriously iridescent, rustling vortex. Yes, I must admit it. Doodle could beat me lying.

Note how Doodle's inability to lie helps reflect his position as an innocent in the world, an impression that is heightened by his child-like trust in his brother and his general naivety, which is perhaps confirmed by his death - he was a character who was not meant for this world in so many ways, as is foreshadowed by the death of the Scarlet Ibis that Doodle is described as at the end of the story.

Why is the character in "The Scarlet Ibis" named Doodle despite his inability to walk?

Doodle can move, and his brother thinks that when he crawls backwards he looks like a doodlebug.

Doodle was born sickly, and his older brother was not very impressed with him.  For one thing, he did not believe that his name was fitting anywhere but on a tombstone.  Instead of William Armstrong, which was too big for him, the older brother decided to give him a nickname.  Since he was little and sickly, he could not walk or move around easily.  It is not true, however, that he could not move at all.  He could crawl.  He just could not crawl in a straight line, apparently.

When he crawled, he crawled backwards, as if he were in reverse and couldn't change gears. Crawling backward made him look like a doodlebug,so I began to call him Doodle.

Doodle actually moved around a lot, and talked a lot.  For being a weakling, he was actually quite active.  He loved his brother and doted on his brother.  His brother considered him a burden because he had to be treated “gently.”

A long list of don'ts went with him, all of which I ignored once we got out of the house. … Doodle was my brother and he was going to cling to me forever, no matter what I did …

A brother who won’t listen to doctors can accomplish extraordinary things, because Doodle does grow stronger and even walks.  Unfortunately, it is Doodle’s desire to be with his brother no matter what that leads to his downfall.  He pushes himself too far for his brother, and weakens himself too much, and perishes because of it.

Doodle sacrifices himself out of his desire to please his brother, and show that he can defy the odds.  He almost does, but his brother will have to live with the fact that he caused the little boy’s death.

What does Doodle look like in "The Scarlet Ibis"?

Doodle, the narrator's younger brother, is evidently a rather strange-looking child, with odd proportions and generally quite sickly and unable, at first, to walk. Seven years younger than the narrator, the boy has a large head, with a small red and shriveled body which resembles that of an old man. This seems to have furthered the general supposition that he would die soon; when Doodle was still an infant, his parents had a coffin built for him. His real name was William Armstrong, but the narrator gave him the name "Doodle" because the way he crawled backwards on the hearth rug reminded him of a doodlebug.

Doodle was unable to walk until he was five years old. Until then, the narrator was tasked with pulling his brother around in a cart which had been specially built for the purpose. When Doodle was five, the narrator took it upon himself to teach his brother to walk.

How does Doodle's characterization relate to the theme of "The Scarlet Ibis"?

One of the prominent themes in the short story "The Scarlet Ibis" deals with expectations and acceptance. The narrator expects to have a healthy, athletic brother who will play and box with him as a child. The narrator is extremely upset to learn that Doodle is physically weak and may be cognitively disabled, which motivates him to smother his infant brother. Fortunately, Doodle smiles and his brother refrains from killing him. Even Doodle's parents expect him to die as an infant and have a special coffin made for their unhealthy son. However, Doodle shatters their expectations by continuing to grow and becoming a rather astute, talkative child.

Despite Doodle's progress, his brother continues to have lofty expectations and physically challenges Doodle to the point of exhaustion in order to keep pace with the other children at school. Doodle is characterized as a physically weak, defenseless boy, who is perfectly content being unique and different. However, Doodle idolizes his brother and does not want to let him down, which is why he continues to follow the difficult regimen. Unlike his parents and brother, Doodle does not crave acceptance or have lofty, unattainable expectations. When the narrator asks Doodle if he wants to be different from everybody else, Doodle responds by saying, "Does it make any difference?" Overall, Doodle is characterized as a different, unique child, who does not seem to meet the expectations of his family members and does not crave acceptance like his proud brother.

"The Scarlet Ibis" contains many themes. Let's say a good theme to consider in relating it to Doodle is obstacles. Throughout the story, the character of Doodle wows his audience at home as he makes it past 3 months, eventually learns to crawl and finally learns to walk. He, like the ibis that is found far from his home, is a minor miracle walking about.

Doodle's brother overcomes some obstacles of his own. He begins to believe that in order for childhood to be fulfilling, he needs a partner in crime. Despite his brother's shortcomings, he commits to help him rise above these and often does so in secret.

Doodle is characterized as a weak figure from the beginning, all wrinkled and situated with a doctor who says he shouldn't live long. As time goes on and the brother builds skills in him, he is able to rise further than anticipated although this doesn't come without trial or significant effort.

What is Doodle's real name in The Scarlet Ibis?

When Doodle is born, it is clear that he suffers from some physical challenges that may not be compatible with life. The narrator describes his newborn baby brother as having a large head with a comparatively tiny body. This could be a description of being born with hydrocephalus, a condition where excess fluid collects in the brain and swells the head disproportionately. Whatever the diagnosis might have been, the baby's condition is so severe that he isn't given a name, because everyone expects him to die anyway. His father even hires a carpenter to construct a casket for the child.

Despite everyone's low expectations, the baby lives. After three months, he is given the name William Armstrong. The narrator compares this to "tying a big tail on a small kite," indicating that the name is too heavy for such a frail little boy. He also mentions that the name "sounds good only on a tombstone," a comment that provides an eerie foreshadowing of the young boy's life.

As the narrator watches his weak little brother lie in bed, the name William Armstrong irks him, because it sounds old, reminding the narrator of their ancestors. He therefore decides that his young brother needs another name that suits him better. Finally, the baby begins crawling—but he moves backward instead of forward. His movements remind the narrator of a doodlebug, so he begins calling his brother Doodle, which sticks. In fact, even their parents think the name suits the baby better than William Armstrong.

What events befall Doodle in "The Scarlet Ibis" and why?

The story, “The Scarlet Ibis,” is a story of an adult looking back on his childhood and the death of his brother.  Brother is the narrator, and by the end of the flashback of his life with Doodle, Doodle dies underneath a bush exhausted by being pushed so hard to achieve by Brother.

 Doodle was born physically disabled and a sad disappointment to his older brother.  Brother was embarrassed to have a brother who couldn’t do anything because of his disabilities, so Brother set out to teach Doodle to walk.  Doodle did learn to walk, but it was not enough for Brother.  Brother wanted him to learn to swim, jump, and climb a rope in Old Woman’s Swamp.  Throughout the story, Brother pushed Doodle to his physical limits until Doodle was so exhausted that he died.  His death was much like the scarlet ibis’ death when a storm blew the ibis off course and out of its natural environment to Doodle and Brother’s farm.  Like Doodle, the ibis was exhausted and died because it was physically unable to fight against the force that controlled it. 

Doodle loved his brother, and therefore, did everything he could to please him.   At the end of the story, Brother returned to the farm and admitted that it was his pride to have a normal brother that caused Doodle’s death.

What is unusual about the character Doodle in "The Scarlet Ibis"?

Lots of things are unusual about Doodle, but probably the easiest unusual trait to identify deals with his physical features. Doodle was born with a physical disability. In fact, most people did not think that Doodle would survive very long after birth.  

He was born when I was six and was, from the outset, a disappointment. He seemed all head, with a tiny body which was red and shriveled like an old man's. Everybody thought he was going to die—everybody except Aunt Nicey, who had delivered him.

It is likely that in addition to his physical disabilities, Doodle has a mental disability. His mother tends to think so, but his brother (the narrator) does not believe so—or he chooses to ignore that possibility altogether, because he vows to help Doodle reach his full potential and be like any other little brother.

I feel, however, that what makes Doodle so unusual is his personality. He does know that he is different because of his physical disabilities, but that doesn't let him stop loving life and playing with his brother. In fact Doodle would do just about anything to earn the acceptance of his brother, and he would do it with a cheerful heart. Doodle has every reason to be angry at the world, but he isn't, and that is why I think Doodle is such an amazing and unusual character.