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“The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst. It was in the clove of seasons, summer was dead but autumn had not yet been born, that the ibis lit in the bleeding tree. The flower garden was stained with rotting brown magnolia petals, and ironweeds grew rank amid the purple phlox.
The scarlet ibis is the story’s main symbolic image and represents Doodle’s unique and fragile position in the world. Its death in front of the family foreshadows Doodle’s death and symbolizes the fragility of life in nature.
The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst. It was in the clove of seasons, summer was dead but autumn had not yet been born, that the ibis lit in the bleeding tree. The flower garden was stained with rotting brown magnolia petals and ironweeds grew rank amid the purple phlox.
Need help on symbols in James Hurst's The Scarlet Ibis? Check out our detailed analysis. From the creators of SparkNotes.
The Scarlet Ibis study guide contains a biography of James Hurst, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. Best summary PDF, themes, and quotes. More books than SparkNotes.
The story of the scarlet ibis (a type of bird) directly parallels that of Doodle, as both fall victim to forces outside their own control. The scarlet ibis is not native to North America, but it appears one day in the yard of the boys’ home nevertheless, having been carried there by a storm.
“The Scarlet Ibis” is filled with many rich descriptions of the natural world. It quickly establishes the rural North Carolina farmland in which the story takes place and draws some of its most important symbols from nature.
