Now, as I am reading The Scarlet Ibis, I wonder if I had even reflected on some things nowadays. Was I also like Brother, forcing Doodle to be the same as the rest? Are parents nowadays forcing the best out of them? Are our parents like Daddy, confining their children in a certain area, not allowing to grow and learn?
Maybe or perhaps I was Brother.
I have a sister who is six and I always find her irritating. Why? Maybe because of the age gap like Brother and Doodle. They were six years apart and I am too with my sister. I cannot empathize with her and often find myself scolding her as a result of not knowing her somehow naive thoughts compared to mine. I always treat her as if she is my friend, but somehow, after a few minutes of talk, I find myself diificult to communicate with her as she has a completely different mindset. I being a considerably pessimistic, find that her thoughts are unworkable ALL the times. However, as I reflect on my past, I notice that she is in fact very mature compared to me when I was her age. Hence, some of her ideas are quite good in the sense of a six-year-old child. Although my sister is not slow, I always make her think that she is not right.
We should not be like Daddy.
We should not underestimate anyone as who knows? They might become someone famous and we may regret terribly like Brother in the story. We should not be like Daddy as he is TOO pessimistic and even thought Doodle would die even before he was given a chance to live. Parents should not give their child the understanding that they are very lousy, cannot make it to the top universities. Instead, we should help them know their strengths and develop on it. However, we should not be too forceful, expecting the best from the children. They must learn how to accept failures so instead of scolding them, we should give them a few encouraging words and teach them how to handle these failures. Hence, we should be lax in the sense that we give children the place and the opportunity to learn but not focing out the best of them, making them stressful.
I can understand how you feel as the eldest among the siblings as I too have an irritating brother who is 10 this year and he still acts like a baby.His thinking is also unlike mine and whenever he is aggitated,he will start resorting to violence.Even though I love him dearly,he never fails to irritate me at the wrong time.For example, when writing this comment, he is constantly coming in to have a peek at what i am doing.In addition,I would think that Daddy in Scarlet Ibis is far too pessimistic.Nobody would ever have so little hope as to prepare their children's coffins even before they are born.Maybe it is just an exaggeration in this story.
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ReplyDeleteI do not have a younger brother or sister but I do have a cousin who comes to my neighbours' house every single day and everyday she will pester me to play with her and keeps asking me if i had finished my work already. She sometimes keeps following me around my house. But we must spare a thought for them as they are only very young. Try to understand what they want. Just like the scarlet ibis, we must look beyond the dirty exterior and appreciate their beauty before it is too late
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