he enacted, such as making Doodle touch his own coffin. These are little cruelties of which we are all capable, but which we would not want others to see us doing. As such, there is a sort of cloak available to the narrator in expressing his story anonymously, as he does. The suggestion is that, because the brother does not identify himself, name himself, or make himself known to us, he is more able to fully confess his sins, much as people writing anonymous comments or confessions online might feel freer to tell the whole story than if they were forced to sign their names.

Another function of the brother's anonymity is that we, too, can imagine ourselves in his place. He confesses his feelings towards Doodle—his grief at his death, but also the fact that he taught Doodle to walk more because he was himself embarrassed than because he wanted to help his brother. These are genuine feelings which run the gamut of how we might feel towards another person: frustration and love are not two separate things. He, an anonymous speaker, expresses sometimes reprehensible behavior towards a child who did not deserve it, and we imagine that he could be anyone. He could be someone we know. We could have these feelings, too.

The unknown narrator creates anonymity and universality. By naming the narrator with the generic term, Brother, in “The Scarlet Ibis,” James Hurst is able to develop his character both within the family but more importantly, to make him identifiable to many readers. In the “Scarlet Ibis,” Brother works to improve Doodle’s skills because he is ashamed of the limitations that Doodle exhibits due to his heart condition. He does not have altruistic motives. The reader is allowed to identify with the narrator’s feelings without feeling guilty. Brother becomes the nameless, faceless feelings that often exist in us when we are ashamed. Brother works on improving Doodle until the child dies from the efforts. Because the narrator is unnamed, the reader is able to be angry with him instead of feeling sorry for him. If he had a true identity, most readers would have shown him pity and grieved with him, and for him. The author has allowed for different emotions within the reader by using this literary technique.