The short stories The Scarlet Ibis and Sucker are very similar stories to each other. Each story contains similar themes, conflicts, and metaphors in the short stories. The two short stories deal will similar conflicts between characters, themes used by the author, and metaphors to portray each character. These are the reasons why the two short stories share such a close similarity.
In the short story Sucker and The Scarlet Ibis the main characters seem to have a constant conflict between each other in the story.
For example, in The Scarlet Ibis Doodle and his brother never seem to get along well as they never had a good brother-to-brother relationship. Doodles brother would always be angry because he would have to drag Doodle along with him. He felt that Doodle should do things on his own and be able to do what he would do for Doodle. (Hurst, p. 91) If I so much as picked up my cap, hed start crying to go with me and Mama would call from wherever she was, Take Doodle with you. He was a burden in many ways.
Doodle was a pain to his brother and they never seemed to bond well together because of Doodles physical problems and they never were happy with each other. Doodles brother tried to persevere the in capabilities of his brother by having him exercise and try to learn to swim, run, or walk.
(Hurst, p. 95) Once I had succeeded in teaching Doodle to walk, I begin to believe in my own infallibility and I prepared a terrific development program for Doodle. I would teach him to run, to swim, to climb trees, and to fight. So we set the deadline for these accomplishments less than a year away, when, it had been decided, Doodle could start to school.
Although Doodle and his brother may have thought that they had solved their problem it was only the beginning. In Sucker there was also a friend-to-friend conflict as well but it was over a girl and had caused anger between the two main characters. Sucker and Pete had constant fights over a girl and Pete felt embarrassed almost to have a friend like Sucker who hung around with Pete all the time. Pete would discourage Sucker if the girl, Maybelle, were not pleased with Pete. Pete would say things to Sucker that he did not mean but could never take back.
(McCullers, p.
109) Why do you always hang around me? Dont you know when youre not wanted? No you dont know when youre wanted. Youre too dumb. Just like your name- a dumb Sucker.
Maybelle would drive Pete to say these horrible things just like Doodles brother being pushed to have Doodle be able to run and swim. Some outside force such as a physical disability or a new girlfriend pushed both of the boys into causing conflict.
Themes of each short story were also similar to each other.
Each short story used the main theme change. In The Scarlet Ibis Doodle changes because he knows he will die soon after touching the coffin and because he pushed himself so hard he ended up dying. Doodles brother also found out how he regrets for pushing Doodle too hard and for even having the feelings he had for Doodle before he mad him exercise.
(Hurst, p. 100) I began to weep and the tear- blurred vision in red before me looked very familiar. Doodle! I screamed above the pounding storm and threw my body to the earth above his.
I lay there crying, sheltering my fallen scarlet ibis from the heresy of rain.
The changes that occurred in Sucker were the relationship between Pete and Sucker after Maybelle became Petes boyfriend and the way Pete feels at the end of the story showing how he regrets ever saying those things to Sucker. Pete is so shaken that he feels Sucker would kill him if he had the opportunity.
(McCullers, p. 111) More than anything I want to ease my mind again. And I miss the way Sucker and I were for a while in a funny, sad way that before this I never would .
