What words or images contibute to the feelings of sadness and longing in the story, "The Scarlet Ibis?"

James Hurst uses words and images throughout his short story “The Scarlet Ibis” to contribute the feelings of sadness and longing. In his opening line, “It was in the clove of seasons, summer was dead but autumn had not yet been born, that the ibis lit in the bleeding tree,” he sets the tone for impending doom by describing the death of summer and the bleeding tree. The color red is used throughout the story to signify passion, and death.The tree where the rare Scarlet Ibis alights is called the bleeding tree.

The birth of a child is usually a joyous time but sadness surrounds Doodle’s birth. Due to his condition, he is described as being red and born in a caul. No one in the family, except his aunt, gives him much chance to survive and they do not even name the baby. Many feel that it is bad luck when a child is born surrounded by a caul.

In an early scene, Hurst describes how the father has a coffin made for the baby, and later Brother makes Doodle touch the coffin that was meant for him. The boys spend time in Old Mother Swamp which is a place that Doodle finds so beautiful that it brings him to tears. The death of the rare Scarlet Ibis in the bleeding tree after a hurricane causes more sadness and is a foreshadowing of what is to come. Brother pushing Doodle to his physical limits shows how he longs to have a “normal” brother. This longing leads to the ultimate sadness of Doodle’s death under the bleeding tree.