People showed in many occasions that whenever they have a goal in their head, they work hard to accomplish it, no matter the size or strength they have. At some point, society started creating stereotypes or labels meaning that, some people are capable and some not, but that’s a lie. Everyone can accomplish whatever they want: it may take more time and persistence for some, but at the end, everyone can accomplish whatever they put their minds to. In the movie “Simon Birch” (directed by Mark Steven Johnson) and in the short story “The Scarlet Ibis” (written by James Hurst) the principal characters act against their disabilities and try hard everyday to success at every challenge they get, action that in the end causes them death.
Throughout both of the stories and in different scenarios the two kids, Simon and Doodle (“The Scarlet Ibis”) show that its not that necessary to be the healthier person to achieve certain things. Both of them, being handicapped kids, try to live their lives as normal as possible to be just like the people that surround them. Although both are strong and self-aware, they don’t have the same support. Simon shares his joy and adventures every day with his best friend Joe, who is by Simon’s side no matter what people say or think but doesn’t have any kind of support from his parents, who feel ashamed of him. On the other hand, Doodle (whose parents are very proud of) has a brother that doesn’t share the same type of love for him as the one that Joe shows for Simon. Doodle’s brother is obsessed with making Doodle accomplish very difficult things that aren’t so good for his health (or at least not in the short time he has made him do it). This kind of things make the poor kid push himself too much to the point it causes his death.
In both cases, Simon and Doodle go through a lot of rough stuff both physically and mentally that make them very strong in their own way. Simon, as many other disabled kids, is made fun of at school for the way he looks. Something like this would discourage a kid to be himself, but it actually makes Simon even stronger because he is completely sure that he was put in this world for a purpose. Doodle, on the other side, suffers the abuses from his brother, someone who pushes him too much even though he knows it is very bad for Doodle’s health. In this story the narrator (which is Doodle’s brother) has a very big pride on making his little brother do things that, from what the doctors said, where impossible for someone in his situation. He made him learn things such as walk or swim only for that feeling of accomplishment he got for making the “impossible” happen.
The way Mark Steven Johnson and James Hurst told this stories make the reader realize how sometimes, without even knowing, one may be discriminating someone that doesn’t have their same exact physical ability, making them feel less than what they are. In both stories the reader learns about how strong these people are and how difficult it is for them to overcome every obstacle society puts in their paths, making everyone think more about this situation and learn to have more respect for these people that only try to do good in this world, people that only try to live as normal as possible and be their best self.
