Winiewicz 1

Katharine R. Winiewicz

Ms. Price

English 1 Honors

31st May 2019

How a Brotherly Bond killed

Over 200,000 US Citizens are diagnosed with Antisocial personality disorder yearly.

In the story, ​The Scarlet Ibis​, Brother acted and showed symptoms of a sociopath as the

story progressed. Brother’s symptoms ultimately led to the downfall in the story.

Antisocial Personality Disorder is a mental condition in which patients do not pay

attention to the safety of others and disregard right and wrong. Within​ The Scarlet Ibis​, as

the story progresses, Brother’s personality develops into a sociopath. Overall, as the story

gets closer and closer to the end, Brother’s symptoms ultimately lead to the tragic ending.

Brother, a main character in ​The Scarlet Ibis s​ hows signs and symptoms of Antisocial

Personality Disorder. According to Mayo Clinic, “​Antisocial personality disorder, sometimes

called sociopathy, is a mental condition in which a person consistently shows no regard for right

and wrong and ignores the rights and feelings of others. People with antisocial personality

disorder tend to antagonize, manipulate or treat others harshly or with callous indifference. They

show no guilt or remorse for their behavior.” ​Right from the beginning of the story, Brother is

seen force teaching Doodle how to do “normal kid things.” As seen in the beginning of the text,

Doodle was born with a physical condition causing him to be crippled and has trouble walking

and doing other physical activities. In the beginning of the text, readers can see Brother having a

hatred for Doodle because of his condition. From the beginning, readers can see Brother wanting
 Winiewicz 2

to force Doodle to become a normal boy. Brother does not use his excuse for forcing doodle to

walk because he wants him to be a “normal boy.” Instead, he states he does not want the kids to

make fun of Doodle. A time where Brother shows these symptoms is when they are in the barn

together, Brother states, “One day I took him up to the barn loft and showed him his casket,

telling him how we all had believed he would die. It was covered with a film of Paris green

sprinkled to kill the rats, and screech owls had built a nest inside it. Doodle studied the

mahogany box for a long time, then said, “It’s not mine.”“It is,” I said. “And before I’ll help you

down from the loft, you’re going to have to touch it.” “I won’t touch it,” he said sullenly. “Then

I’ll leave you here by yourself,” I threatened, and made as if I were going down” (Hurst 2). From

this example readers can see that Brother is threatening Doodle to do something he is scared of

and Brother threatens to leave him there. According to Kathleen Smith, PhD, “People with

antisocial personality disorder are willing to use deception or manipulation to get whatever they

want, such as power or money. They may con people and use an alias, and they may steal or use

aggressive behavior to achieve their desires. Even when caught, they show no regret or guilt.

They lack a sense of empathy and cannot consider the feelings of others without help. They also

tend to act impulsively, which can lead to arrests and time in prison.”​ ​When Doodle and Brother

are in the barn, Brother forces Doodle to touch his casket. Doodle repeatedly told Brother that he

did not want to touch it. Brother was very cruel in this situation because the casket was made for

Doodle because his family thought he would die. He does not even consider how Doodle felt and

wanted to just leave him there. Brother has little to no empathy for doing this giving readers a

hint on his disorder. As the story progresses, so does Brother’s symptoms of a sociopath

becoming more noticeable and yet so hidden.

 Winiewicz 3

Brother describes himself as someone who enjoys lying as the story progresses. Another

symptom of Antisocial Personality Disorder causes patients to constantly lie. Although Doodle

and Brother do share a connection with lying in the story, someone with antisocial personality

disorder likes to lie whether its for the good or the bad. Brother states, “From the beginning

Doodle was a terrible liar and he got me in the habit. Had anyone stopped to listen to us, we

would have been sent off to Dix Hill. My lies were scary, involved, and usually pointless, but

Doodle's were twice as crazy. People in his stories all had wings and flew wherever they wanted

to go” (Hurst 2). Even though Doodle and Brother share a bond by lying together it does not

state however, if Brother uses his lies to get him things. One of the symptoms of Antisocial

personality disorder, according to Kathleen Smith, PhD, “Lying or conning others for profit or

pleasure”. Even though it does not state that Brother uses his lies to con others, it does state that

he uses lying for pleasure. Brother however, is not seen lying for anything bad that would harm

him or Doodle and only seen lying for his pleasure. However, “lying”, making up imaginary

friends and or telling stories about their characters is a normal activity for most children.

Although, Brother’s actions do seem a bit odd, he is not all that crazy. Brother’s behavior

may seem to be off as the story progresses, readers may forget about how he benefited Doodle.

His actions made it seem like he hated Doodle from the beginning of the story but all in all he

just wanted a “normal” brother. Readers may forget that he did in fact teach Doodle to walk and

do other activities that he would have ever been capable of without Brother. Brother states, “I

would say, "Doodle, don't you want to learn to walk?" He'd nod his head, and I'd say, "Well, if

you don't keep trying, you'll never learn." Then I'd paint for him a picture of us as old men,

white-haired, him with a long white beard and me still pulling him around in the go-cart. This
 Winiewicz 4

never failed to make him try again. Finally one day, after many weeks of practicing, he stood

alone for a few seconds. When he fell, I grabbed him in my arms and hugged him, our laughter

peeling through the swamp like a ringing bell. Now we knew it could be done. Hope no longer

hid in the dark palmetto thicket but perched like a cardinal in the lacy toothbrush tree, brilliantly

visible. "Yes, yes," I cried, and he cried it too, and the grass beneath us was soft and the smell of

the swamp was sweet” (Hurst 3). Brother seems to be forcing Doodle to learn how to walk,

however, that is not the case. Doodle is seen giving up on learning how to walk after falling and

Brother encourages him by drawing a picture of them being old and Brother dragging Doodle in

a go cart. This encourages Doodle to keep going and eventually he learns to walk on his own. At

this point, the moment does seem like a sweet connection in the story where Brother finally feels

closer to Doodle but Brother’s actions take a turn for the worst progressing the rest of the plot.

Brother is then seen forcing Doodle to do more and more activities that would not have been

even a thought before he started walking. Brother states, “I made him swim until he turned blue

and row until he couldn't lift an oar. Wherever we went, I purposely walked fast, and although he

kept up, his face turned red and his eyes became glazed. Once, he could go no further, so he

collapsed on the ground and began to cry. "Aw, come on, Doodle," I urged. "You can do it. Do

you want to be different from everybody else when you start school?" "Does it make any

difference?" "It certainly does," I said. "Now, come on," and I helped him up” (Hurst 4). Even

though Brother does teach Doodle how to walk, he pushes his limits when teaching him how to

do other physical activities that he would not have ever been capable of doing. If Brother had any

sort of compassion, or sympathy for Doodle’s pain when teaching him these activities or even

throughout the story, he would not have been considered a sociopath. As the story progresses to
 Winiewicz 5

the end, Brother’s symptoms and signs leading him to be a sociopath become worse and more

noticeable.

Towards the end of the story, Brothers and Doodle’s connection may seem like a

brotherly bond, however, that is not the case. Brother’s symptoms and actions progress into the

point where Brother is seen leaving Doodle in bad situations. At first, their bond was non

existent and Brother wanted nothing to do with Doodle. Eventually Brother and Doodle were

seen bonding, but not in the way you think they would. Brother’s definition of bonding was

teasing and picking on Doodle and making him cry. Brother then forces Doodle to learn how to

walk even though his physical condition makes it very hard for him. Their connection does seem

like a brotherly bond because of their likings of making up stories of imaginary friends which

they called “lying.” However their connection then takes a turn for the worst as the story comes

an end as Brother is seen jeopardizing Doodle’s life. By the very end of the story, Brother shows

empathy for Doodle when he is sick, but still wants to continue to teach him how to be a normal

boy. His impulse just would not let go, leaving Doodle in a bad situation.
 Winiewicz 6

Words Cited

● Kathleen Smith, PhD, Antisocial personality disorder, Psycom.net December 5th 2018,

https://www.psycom.net/antisocial-personality-disorder/

● Mayo Clinic, Antisocial Personality Disorder, August 04th 2017,

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/antisocial-personality-disorder/symptom

s-causes/syc-20353928