Read the excerpt from "the scarlet ibis."
what symbol is described in this excerpt, and what does it
represent?
there is within me (and with sadness i have watched it in
others) a knot of cruelty borne by the stream of love, much
as our blood sometimes bears the seed of our destruction,
and at times i was mean to doodle. one day i took him up
to the barn loft and showed him his casket, telling him how
we all had believed he would die. it was covered with a film
of paris green sprinkled to kill the rats, and screech owls
had built a nest inside it.
the owls, which symbolize knowledge and wisdom
the nest, which symbolizes home and family
the rats, which symbolize cruelty and sadness
the casket, which symbolizes the loss of doodle
doodle studied the mahogany box for a long time, then
said, "it's not mine."
"it is," i said. "and before i'll you down from the loft,
you're going to have to touch it."