Scarlet ibis

This story illustrates the importance of family bonds, particularly those between brothers. Doodle clearly looks up to the narrator, but many times over the course of the story the narrator fails to be the caring and compassionate brother he should be; instead, he is more concerned with the implications of having a disabled sibling. Without the support of his family or his brother, the person he looks up to most in the world, Doodle's strength was bound to leave him. At the end, following Doodle's death, the narrator realizes just how important his brother is to him, but by then it is far too late.