What larger message was Hurst trying to convey in "The Scarlet Ibis"?

In "The Scarlet Ibis," James Hurst points to the polarities of life and demonstrates how even certain feelings can be both valuable and destructive. These polarities are at the heart of Hurst's message.

At one point in the narrative, the brother realizes that his pride, like Nature, "is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two vines, life and death." This statement is thematic. Like Nature, which affords the father his livelihood but also brings blight to his cotton fields and terrible thunderstorms, the brother's pride prompts Doodle to learn to walk--an accomplishment that thrills his parents and Aunt Nicey--but it also urges the brother, with this success, to push Doodle on to mastering more difficult feats, such as rowing a boat and running. These actions prove to be tragic as the delicate boy cannot sustain the stress of so much exercise, especially as a thunderstorm bears down upon him.

At the end of the story, the narrator/brother holds Doodle, comparing him to the dead scarlet ibis, blown in from a stranger place. This comparison is fitting since Doodle, born in a caul and recognized by his Aunty Nicey as unique and spiritually blessed, has always been a delicate creature who has not been able to survive the tempests of life like the scarlet ibis. Indeed, it has been the tempest of the narrator's "second vine" of pride that has killed Doodle. 

What larger message was Hurst trying to convey in "The Scarlet Ibis"?

James Hurst's "The Scarlet Ibis" is the story of two brothers growing up in coastal North Carolina in the early part of the 20th century. The mention of war at a midway point in the story is symbolic of the war which is going on between the brothers. During the story, Hurst makes reference to the battles of World War I and the boys' mother prays for a fallen soldier who was a neighbor. The allusion comes at a point in the story when the brothers are at a crossroads in their lives. The older brother wants Doodle to become physically vigorous and has designed a regiment of activity which he hopes will make Doodle the equal of the other boys at school. Above all, the brother doesn't want Doodle to embarrass him. Their relationship during this time is antagonistic and stormy (the weather is also a symbol of this struggle). Doodle questions why he needs to be as physically strong as his brother. His inclination is to be more sensitive and to simply appreciate the wonders of nature. The brother, however, is not to be dissuaded and he eventually pushes Doodle too far. His pride and stubbornness in remaking Doodle ends in tragic circumstances as Doodle dies of internal bleeding by exhausting himself after chasing his brother during a rainstorm.

Why did James Hurst write "The Scarlet Ibis"?

One of the more disturbing themes that can be attached to this excellent short story is the danger that there is of not accepting somebody for who they are and desiring to make them into what another person thinks they should be. This is shown through the narrator's stubborn refusal to allow Doodle, his younger brother, to remain weak and unable to participate in life through his disabilities. As a result, he teaches him how to walk, sucessfully. Then, buoyed by this success, he moves on to create a more elaborate training program to remake Doodle in the way that he would like him to be:

Once I had succeeded in teaching Doodle to walk, I began to believe in my own infallibility, and I prepared a terrific development program for him, unknown to Mama and Daddy, of course. I would teach him to run, to swim, to climb trees, and to fight. He, too, now believed in my infallibility, so we set the deadline for these accomplishments less than a year away, when, it had been decided, Doodle could start school.

In the end, of course, is the narrator's inability to accept Doodle and to value him for who he is that ends in Doodle's early death, as he is not able to live up to his brother's great expectations and hopes for him. The fact that the story is set against the backdrop of the Great War heightens this theme, as it focuses on the conflict that existed between them and makes a link to the conflict that so many young men at that time were engaged in. One of the reasons that the author wrote this short story therefore was to explore the dangers of seeking to transform another and change them into the person that you think they should be, rather than being able to accept them for who they are.

What is the message of "The Scarlet Ibis"?

There are of course many different messages or potential themes that you could take away from reading this excellent story. One of the key themes of the text is the conflict that is presented between love and pride. Chiefly of course this is explored through the relationship of the narrator and his brother, Doodle. Although Brother clearly loves his disabled younger sibling, at the same time his relationship with Doodle is impacted by pride and the way that this can lead to cruelty. The narrator clearly feels a sense of embarrassment at Doodle's various limitations, and does everything he can to train Doodle so that he won't be different from everybody else. We see this clearly after the demonstration that Doodle gives his parents when he shows them he has learnt how to walk. When he sees this, the narrator begins to cry. Note what the text tells us at this stage:

"What are you crying for?" asked Daddy, but I couldn't answer. 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 of having a crippled brother.

The narrator's relationship with Doodle is clearly driven by pride as well as love, which forces him to push Doodle to ever greater feats of physical achievement. It is this sense of pride of course that leads to Doodle's death, as the brother, in spite of Doodle's obvious sense of exhaustion, continues to train his brother until Doodle actually dies from the physical strain. Thus the message of this story concerns the way that often in our closest relationships other, more negative emotions can be incredibly important. We need to be aware of these emotions and feelings in order to ensure that they do not destroy both ourselves and the relationship.