James Hurst creates The Scarlet Ibis with plenty of many literary devices, but the main device is symbolism. Nature and the color red are the main symbols that Hurst uses in his story. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The Scarlet Ibis is a bird that Doodle finds lying dead on the ground next to the bleeding tree. It was not a common bird where they lived, so it must have traveled a great distance before dying. This is a symbol that in many ways illustrates Doodle. Just like a Scarlet Ibis traveling a great distance, Doodle accomplishes a great number of things including surviving birth against all odds and learning to walk when the doctor said he would never be able to. Along with this, both Doodle's and the bird's lives were shorter than expected. Throughout the story, Hurst references the color red which not only symbolizes death but also foreshadows Doodle's death. The first encounter with this tragic color is found in the second paragraph when Hurst describes Doodle after birth as a “little red body.” Hurst uses this symbolism to warn the reader of the impending death of the squiggle. Next, Hurst uses the Scarlet Ibis, a red bird, which dies at the foot of the bleeding tree. The last occasion in the story where Hurst uses the color red to symbolize death is at the end, when Doodle dies. “He was bleeding from the mouth, and his neck and the front of his shirt were stained bright red,” (page 6). Hurst uses this last symbolic phrase to describe Doodles' death, but instead of illustrating the color red as terrible, he described it as brilliant. He does this to relate the beautiful and graceful death of the Scarlet Ibis to the Death of Doodle. Nature is a recurring motif throughout this story. The beauty of the natural world enhances Doodle and the narrator's life. There are recurring descriptions of places such as Old Woman Swamp, Horsehead Landing, and the family home itself, before and after the events of the story. Doodle is fascinated by the beauty of the wildflowers in the swamp the first time he visits. This recurring nature motif connects Doodle to the ibis and the natural world itself, and accentuates the beauty of his life, although it is very different from the lives of most children his age. The color red is a powerful motif throughout this text. The title itself is "The Scarlet Ibis" and scarlet is a shade of red. The ibis perches on the bleeding tree, which also reminds readers of the color red. When Doodle dies, his blood stains his skin and shirt red. Aside from these obvious references, the narrator also describes Doodle's body as red when he was a child: "a tiny body that was red and shriveled" (Part I). In this story, the color red symbolizes death, but it also symbolizes beauty, through the beautiful ibis, its tree and nature. This may seem paradoxical, but it is an adequate representation of the mixture of contradictions that make up Doodle's life. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay There's a reason why Doodle is so reluctant to reach out and touch the coffin that was built for him as a child when his brother takes him to the barn and tries to force him to do so. The coffin is a symbol of the death that Doodle has escaped, and he fears that if he physically connected with it he would invite death into his life. The coffin represents what should have happened to Doodle, but, by a strange twist of fate, did not.