“The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst

Red (scarlet)color symbolism

• Red can symbolize many things from blood to love to infatuation.

• Basically red symbolizes strong emotions rather than intellectual ideas.

• For example, red can symbolize excitement, energy, speed, strength, danger, passion, and aggression.

• Red, the color of blood and fire, represents life and vitality. Red is also looked upon as a sensual color, and can be associated with man's most profound urges and impulses.

Background

• The story is set in the American South. Its climax takes place in 1918, the year World War I ended.

• You’ll find references to battles being fought far away from its peaceful southern setting.

• Why do you suppose the author chose this setting?

Physical setting: American South in 1918

Historical setting: end of WWI

Meet the author, James Hurst• Hurst was born on a farm in coastal

North Carolina in 1922. After studying at North Carolina State College, he served in the army during World War II.

• “People always suffer,” Hurst said, “when others try to make them over in their own image.”

United States soldiers fire a machine gun in Belleau Wood, France, in June 1918.

Point of view: the narrator’s position

in relation to the story being told

• First person point of view• Told in flashback: a scene set in

time earlier than the main story

• What quote shows you the age of the narrator before the flashback?

• What is the narrator’s name? Why?

Magnolia, ironweed, purple phlox

Oriole Frangipani, “graveyard flower”

Clove, “clove of seasons”

Grinding stone

Palmetto fronds

Images, symbols, figurative languageRed flowering gum tree

Red Nightshade

Allusion

• reference to literature, film, religion (especially the Bible), art, mythology or history

Allusions in the story

• Belleau Woods-WWI battle sites

• Hansel and Gretel-“It was too late to turn back, for we had both wandered too far into a net of expectations and had left no crumbs behind.”

• “If we produced anything less than the Resurrection, [Aunt Nicey] was going to be disappointed.”