The meaning of the story connects to the motif age because it shows how life, everyone

grows up, matures, and dies, but some people just have more time than others. Doodle starts off
in the story not even having enough purpose for people to think he deserves a name, which
definitely underestimates his abilities. After age 5 he is able to walk because he is taught and
given enough time to mature. Later on, Doodles older brother decided to push Doodle beyond
his limits. This is shown when the narrator takes his little brother, Doodle, tot eh stream to row,
but makes him push for himself when the boat tips over, and the both almost drown. The lesson
connecting to age exemplifies how people mature and age differently, and since the characters in
this story were ignorant about that lesson, someone ended up getting hurt. The overall theme of
the motif age is progression over time, but pride sometimes gets in the way of that. When the
narrator sees his little brother dead, it gives him maturity and a lesson well-learned that he is able
to grow up with. Sometimes experience is the best yet cruelest teacher when it comes to
maturity. People learn at different times in their short or long life.