Scarlet Ibis and Brownies Essay Example

"Scarlet Ibis" and "Brownies" are two stories that express the theme of bullying. These two stories are from a childhood point of view. The experiences in the two stories focus on childhood bullying. "Scarlet Ibis" tells a tale of harassment in a family. The narrator of the story gives accounts of how he used to bully his brother who was born disabled. The story is filled with compassion and love of a family. Although the narrator admits bullying his brother, he argues it was out of love. On the other hand, "Brownies" is a story of group bullying. The setting of the book is in camp Crescendo, a summer camp. The author tells a story marked by tension among young girls based on racial disparities. It is based on two groups with two different racial backgrounds. The story focuses on a looming battle between the white girl's group and the black group based on an accusation of Arneta, the story's bully. These two stories have similarities and differences. Some comparisons can be mapped out from the two stories. Despite having different settings, they focus on a common theme which is childhood bullying.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

"Scarlet Ibis" theme of bullying is based on disability while Brownies theme is based on racism. The narrator in the "Scarlet Ibis" mistreats his brother in due to his inability to walk he sees him as a bother to him. The narrators bullying is exhibited in both his choice of words and actions towards Doodle, his young brother. The narrator says how he saw his brother as a disappointment. He ensured that Doodle new that every time he was left with him. Despite knowing he could not walk he forced him to learn to walk. Sometimes he hurt him during the training. The narrator did not want to be associated with a disabled person. On the other hand, "Brownies" brought out racial bullying. Mostly, the black girls bullied the white group due to their color. The bullying character, Arnetta always focused on making comments that degraded the white group. The author says how Arnetta accused troop 909 of smelling like Chihuahuas. The grudge held by Arnetta based on racial differences.

The bully in the brownies has no compassion for her target group as opposed to the bully in "Scarlet Ibis" who shows compassion and remorse for his brother. Despite being mean, the narrator in "Scarlet Ibis" shows love for his brother. The narrator says he has a tough for his brother. All the selfish acts the narrator does to Doddle are meant to have a positive impact on him. Like the forced training to walk results to a happy ending. Despite being told he would not walk, the narrator ensures that his brother learns to walk everyone else. On the story of "Brownies," Arnetta has no remorse or compassion for her classmates. She is always picking a fight with everyone even people in her troop such as Snot and Daphne. Arnetta goes on to arrange a fight with Troop 909 where they would ambush them in the bathroom. The bully is determined to hurt her targets. She does not hold to any feeling but hatred for the white counterparts. The characters in both stories are entirely different, despite being mean to their targets; there is a difference from how the narrator treats Doodle and how Arnetta treats her friends.

The tension in Brownies is driven by prejudice and hatred. The tone and words used by the characters in brownie troop show hatred towards troop 909. Troop 909 is bullied due to their family background. The bully, Arnetta is driven by the society's virtues. The gap that exists between the white and the black races is motivated by hatred and anger. The author says that their families are the reason for the rift between the two troops. She gives his father as an example where he does not allow anyone to paint his white without pay since it symbolizes the white slavery experienced before. Brownies show a greater picture of society on racism.

On the contrary, "Scarlet Ibis" shows bullying that is meant to provoke a positive reaction. The narrator is mean to his brother compassionately. Doodle does not take the acts of his brother as life-threatening. He feels always clings to his brother for help even after being humiliated. After the narrator took Doodle to his casket, he reacted by hugging him and telling him not to leave him. The actions in the story have no much of emotional torture. Even after living Doodle in the rain, he went back to check on him although it was too late. These two stories have different storylines in which the characters have been portrayed in different versions.

Conclusion

"Scarlet Ibis" and "Brownies" have shown significant contradictions on setting despite having a common theme of childhood bullying. The differences can be identified by how the authors of two stories have portrayed the characters of the bullied and the bullies as discussed above.