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Similes
Style
Explanation and Analysis:
Hurst’s writing style in “The Scarlet Ibis” is both conversational and full of rich figurative language and imagery. The following passage—which comes near the beginning of the story—captures the conversational nature of Hurst’s style:
Doodle was just about the craziest brother a boy ever had. Of course he wasn’t a crazy crazy like old Miss Leedie, who was in love with President Wilson and wrote him a letter every day, but was a nice crazy, like someone you meet in your dreams. 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.
In this passage, Brother (the narrator) describes Doodle as “the craziest brother a boy ever had” while also noting that Doodle wasn’t “crazy crazy like old Miss Leedie.” These descriptions are very conversational, and make it seem as if Brother is speaking to readers as old friends (which also comes through in the way he assumes readers know who Miss Leedie is). Brother continues to narrate in this colloquial, almost childish, manner when describing Doodle (without any shame) as “a disappointment” and when describing Doodle’s body as looking “like an old man’s.”
Hurst’s writing style shifts over the course of the story to become much more lyrical, especially when the storm hits Brother and Doodle’s rural North Carolina community and Doodle dies in the midst of it. This stylistic shift is one of the ways that Hurst captures how Brother emotionally matures over the course of the story.
Related Themes:
