All things truly start with from the innocence of a person. In the short story “The Half Huskey” by Margaret Lawrence. We are exposed to the forces of nature vs. nurture. Margaret Lawrence suggests that cruelty is something that is passed on from person to person as they are introduced to the cycle of abuse.
The nurture part of Harvey life leaves a very bad impact on him as he is physically abused by his aunt on a regular basis. “Harvey lay on his sofa his eyes flickering and half closing, his aunt with explosive quickness that made [Vanessa] jerk in every nerve of her body, snatched the wooden spoon and hit him across the face [Harvey’s[ eyes opened only a little”. Harvey has become accoustmed to the abuse and does not think much of it. He belives it to be the norm.“He jabbed it again and it hit nanuk in the face.” Harvey’s repeated assaults on Nanuk shows that Harvey has no guilt on the outcomes of his actions and hes is pulling Nanuk into the cycle of abuse. He was not a kid anymore. He was strong and could have trust her hand away or held her wrists. We know that Harvey is capable of defending himself but he does not. Vannesa suggests that it may be
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“The North end was full of shacks and shanties”. The Neighbouredhood Harvey grew up in was drasticcly diffrent from Vanessas. This also played a factor in their growth as Vaneesa has a srong foundation for herself and Harvey does not.” They caught him quite quicly he did not w=even try to deny it”. When the authorites catch harvey We are told that he dosnt fight it. This may be because Harvey has come to terms with himself and has accepted the fact that he cannot change.”She was free to go”. We learn from Vannesa that Aunt Ada was out in town and looked very happy. Harvey was sent to prision and Nanuk was chlorofomed. She was the one who started it all and yet she does not face any consequenes
Justin Torres Novel We the Animals is a story about three brothers who lived a harassed childhood life. There parents are both young and have no permanent jobs to support their family. The narrator and his brothers are delinquents who are mostly outside, causing trouble, causing and getting involved in a lot of problems and barely attending school, which their parents allowed them to do. The narrator and his brothers were physically abused by their father, leading them to become more violent to one another and others, drinking alcohol and dropping out of school. Physical abuse is an abuse involving one person’s intention to cause feelings of pain, injury and other physical suffering and bodily harm to the victim. Children are more sensitive to physical abuse, they show symptoms of physical abuse in short run and more effects in the long run. Children who sustain physical abuse grow up with severely damaged of sense of self and inability. The narrator and his brothers were physically abused by their father and showed long run symptoms of Antisocial behaviors, drinking problems and most importantly they becoming more violent themselves. Many psychological and sociological studies such as “Childhood history of abuse and child abuse potential: role of parent’s gender and timing of childhood abuse” and “school factors as moderators of the relationship between physical child abuse and pathways of antisocial behavior can be used to prove the argument that children who sustain physical abuse grow up with criminal and antisocial behaviors.
Characters May and Holden experienced the death of a loved one as teenagers. These catastrophes had a negative effect on their lives and caused them to have changes in their usual behavior, episodes of sadness, and suicidal thoughts.
One-L, by Scott Turow, outlines the experience of attending Harvard Law School as a first year law-student. Turow weaves his experiences with those around him, and intertwines the professors of Harvard law, as well as their lectures. Initially, Turow enters Harvard law in a bit of disarray and awe. As a world of hornbooks, treatises, law-reviews, group studies, and legal terminology unfold beyond comprehension; Turow is confronted with the task of maintaining sanity. Time appears to be the most important variable, as Turow begins to study for contracts, torts, property, civil procedure, and criminal law; because time is so precious, one key-highlight for law-students is to balance family. Moreover, Turow is part of section-1, and two of his
For Maggie, “a small ragged girl,” tears, blood, and cursing are more normal than not. Granted, the character of Maggie knew that there did not need to be perpetual fighting and ugliness, but what was her alternative? Even though she “grew to be a most rare and wonderful production of a tenement district, a pretty girl,” Maggie was born into a destructive cyclical existence (20). She grows up in the tenements, probably the same ones her parents grew up in, and experiences a routine of drunken behavior, disrespect, violence, and poverty. Eventually, her father stops coming home drunk, accosted by her drunken mother, where they break furniture and attack each other until they pass out. However, Maggie’s brother replaces him. Both father and son obtain barely working class jobs and acquire no education to speak of, except what they learn by example. Not only did Maggie identify this destructive existence in the life of her family, she also sees it in the lives of her community. Generation after generation of children fall into groups, “Rum Alley” and “Devil’s Row,” taunting passersby and reenacting the violence they see at home. Crane ...
Miller, Alice. For Your Own Good: Hidden Cruelty in Child-rearing and the Roots Of Violence. Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 1983: 197.
The quote “ If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we would find in each man’s life a sorrow and a suffering enough to disarm all hostility” from Henry Wadsworth states that behind one’s behavior, corresponding experiences exists that contributes to the behavior.
Instead the environment we are raised in will change who we are and how we act. In the short story “The Half-Husky” by Margaret Laurence, Harvey is a prime example of this - as a child, he was very innocent and lacked a suitable understanding of the environment he was in, but as he grew up his aunt began to complain about how much of a nuisance he was in her life (complaining about no one wanting to date her because she already had a child). Growing up knowing that you are not wanted must be extremely difficult, because your life may seem without a purpose. Harvey - being raised by an aunt who does not want him - began to not want anything to do with other people. He began to model what his aunt did to him to other people, eventually reaching Nanuk and Vanessa. Nanuk is a dog, but not much different from Harvey as a pup Nanuk was very innocent, but once Harvey started torturing Nanuk by poking him with a stick, getting pepper in his eyes, and even setting him on fire! Nanuk became very cautious and aggressive around other people, the environment he was originally raised in with Vanessa was one with a lot of care, but once he was introduced to Harvey he went from extremely innocent to overly aggressive. Humans are not inherently good or evil, but are susceptible to change through their experiences in their
Throughout history, many have debated whether an individual's behavior is a result of DNA inheritance or developed through the environment they have grown to experience. One side believes that an individual inherits their behavior through nature which is DNA just like how it determines the child’s eye color, type of hair and the possibility of diseases. The other side argued behavior is developed through the environment in which they have experienced through the years. John Locke explains that at birth, a child is born with a blank slate and as they grow their mind is filled with experiences. The question arises whether the creatures’ horrendous behavior was a result being born a monster or his experience of being abandoned constantly.
""The Art of Cruelty"" The New York Times Book Review, 31 July 2011. Web. 27 Nov. 2011.
Eva was the single mother of three kids. She was the matriarchal figure in her household, which did not only consist of her children, Pear, Plum, and Hannah and Hannah’s daughter Sula, but also many others who boarded in her house. There were three young boys, all named Dewey by Eva, who had arrived to the house at the same time. Eva knew that if she named them all the same name it would make them feel as though they were equally loved and cared about. Such name-calling created a positive camaraderie between them. Also in the boarding house resided a drunk, Tar Baby, and various newlyweds. Eva kept the whole house under control.
The question that is most important to me is whether people are born with evil inside of them and are waiting for something to expose it. If every person has this cruelty concealed inside of them and certain conditions could reveal it then it would be much more concerning than a person being treated poorly and acquiring viciousness because of it. If everybody could be treated in average to good conditions it would be much less of an issue compared to people born with cruelty inside of them.
Corwin highlights the corrupted foster care system through detailed progression of the central character, Olivia. She is one of the most brilliant students in the novel and views school as a positive distraction from the daily physical abuse she encounters at home. In a sense, intelligence saves her. She manages to disconnect her emotions and use her intellect to excel in and out of school. With a molested mother and lack of father figure, Olivia becomes a ward of the county. Children who enter foster care often have been exposed to condition...
...on the behavior. There are plenty of abused children that go on to lead healthy, well-adjusted lives without committing criminal behaviors. Ultimately, I think human behavior is a delicate balance between nature and nurture although there is no way to prove it with the measures available today.
K. (1995). Feral children and clever animals: Reflections on human nature. New York: Oxford Univ Press.
According to Erik Erickson, in the first year of a child’s life, the main challenge is to establish trust. After birth, an infant must depend completely on others to fulfill their needs. To create a safe environment for the baby, a caregiver must provide things like food, love, and safety. Overall, if the child’s needs are met, the child should develop a positive and trusting attitude toward the world. This security will allow them to build trust with others in the future. For infants that are mistreated or neglected, the world would seem like a scary place. Sadly, they create a barrier and learn to mistrust others. Also, if the child’s needs are not completely fulfilled, the child may develop an insecure attitude (Romero).