Nature versus Nurture

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The Battle of Nature vs. Nurture

In Nancy Kress' "In Memoriam" the philosophical issue of identity becomes apparent. As a son pleads to his mother to take part in a medical procedure, which wipes your mind clear of memories, the question of "what makes me 'me'?" arises. Set in the future, the mother is faced with a decision: whether or not she wants to die as a result of having too many memories, or as a result of having none at all. The son, Aaron, takes quite a different approach however; as he feels that it is not a question of death, rather a question of life. He feels that by getting the memory swipe "[She] would make new memories, start over. A new life. Life, not death!" ( ). Aaron seems to view the procedure on a more linear or quantitative level, while his mother, on a qualitive level. The problem becomes discernable as an issue of nature vs. nurture. There are also many underlying symbols such as the neighbor (Aaron's father) whom has had the memory swipe, the shrine located in the mother's back garden for remembrance, and the constant reference to the way the mother remembers even the most minute and irrelevant of details from the past. The battle of nature vs. nurture will be argued in the remainder of the essay by means of the characters, Cara and Lalia. Cara taking a position supporting that identity as being a result of experience as well as genetics (nurture and nature), while Lalia supports that identity is formed purely through the passing down of genes (nature). Cara's argument will closely reflect my own opinion.

The First Dialogue

Lalia: Cara, what is the matter? You look very shaken up.

Cara: Oh hello. Yes well, I just received some rather bad news. It is about my father. I've lost most of him. He had a major stroke last night and has suffered severe brain damage resulting in amnesia.

Lalia: I'm very sorry to hear that. However, you have not lost your father at all, he is still alive.

Cara: Is he really Lalia. He does not know me, or my mother. He has no memories. He has lost half of himself. He has lost his past and most of what made him my father.

Lalia: Our memories are not what shape us.

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