What does "The Scarlet Ibis" symbolize? How does the bird actually symbolize Doodle?

There is a great deal of symbolism associated with the color red and the scarlet ibis itself. The symbolism often suggests death of beauty, blood, and dying. Some symbolic representations of the color red are the scarlet ibis, the bleeding tree, the bush beneath which Doodle dies, and when Doodle is born his body is described as “red.” In this story the scarlet ibis is a symbol for the narrator’s brother. Both Doodle and the ibis die as a result of their inability to cope with the world. An ibis can live only in its natural habitat; when it finds itself far from home, it cannot survive. The ibis in the story has been forced from its natural surroundings, eventually finding its way to a tree outside the narrator’s home. The ibis dies, too weak to survive. Like the ibis, the narrator’s brother, Doodle, is special and too weak to survive. By using the ibis as a symbol, the author emphasizes Doodle’s uniqueness and shows how this quality is also what challenges him. Like the ibis, Doodle dies because he is not suited to his surroundings. The ibis as a symbol for Doodle reminds us that rare beauty is all too often fragile.