Imagery and Symbolism in "The Scarlet Ibis"

Question 8 • GA-Literature and Composition I CR

Which excerpt from “The Scarlet Ibis” most foreshadows that the narrator will feel regret for something he has done to Doodle?

Answer

But sometimes (like right now), as I sit in the cool, green-draped parlor, the grindstone begins to turn, and time with all its changes is ground away—and I remember Doodle.

Doodle was my brother and he was going to cling to me forever, no matter what I did, so I dragged him across the burning cotton field to share with him the only beauty I knew, Old Woman Swamp.

There is within me (and with sadness I have watched it in others) a knot of cruelty borne by the stream of love, much as our blood sometimes bears the seed of our destruction, and at times I was mean to Doodle.

Once I had succeeded in teaching Doodle to walk, I began to believe in my own infallibility and I prepared a terrific development program for him, unknown to Mama and Daddy, of course.

Explanation

The narrator’s regret is foreshadowed by his reflection that cruelty can exist alongside love and that he was sometimes mean to Doodle. This confession hints that he will later look back with sadness on how he treated his brother. Choice C is the excerpt that most directly signals that regret.

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