The two different conflicts in the story "The Scarlet Ibis" by James Hurst are:
a) Man against Man
b) Man against Himself
a) Concerning the first conflict, Man against Man, “The Scarlet Ibis” deals with the older brother and his conflict with his younger brother, Doodle. The conflict here is that Doodle is a bit of “a disappointment” to the family and certainly to the older brother. He does not like that his brother may...
The two different conflicts in the story "The Scarlet Ibis" by James Hurst are:
a) Man against Man
b) Man against Himself
a) Concerning the first conflict, Man against Man, “The Scarlet Ibis” deals with the older brother and his conflict with his younger brother, Doodle. The conflict here is that Doodle is a bit of “a disappointment” to the family and certainly to the older brother. He does not like that his brother may not have the mental faculties and physical strength that he has, or that other less-challenged people have.
In addition, this older brother harbors resentment, somewhat, because Doodle, as espoused by the mother, may never be able to have boxing matches with him. Moreover, he may never be able to sit atop with him “in the top fork of the great pine behind the barn…”
Essentially the conflict is that this brother wants Doodle to be able to effortlessly do what the brothers of other people he knows can do. Doodle cannot; the older brother cannot really accept Doodle’s imitations. So this is the conflict of the older brother against Doodle.
b) Regarding Man against Himself, Doodle is in conflict with his limitations. He wants to be what the society around him calls ‘normal.’ Doodle wants to please his brother and enjoy life with him uninhibitedly, seizing the day with his brother, to borrow a famous saying. He wants to please his brother despite the mental and physical challenges he must battle with daily.
This is really evidenced toward the climax of “The Scarlet Ibis” when he cannot keep up with the older brother who is running away from him. This leads to his (Doodle’s) death and this is the ultimate price he pays in this battle against himself.
Furthermore, you can also say that a third conflict in this short story is the conflict both characters have - Man against Nature, or Man against his physical environment. Both are battling the deluge of rain that batters them as they struggle to get home.
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