Roman poet Horace once noted, "Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant." Horace's assertion examines the role that adversity plays in the development of a persons character and understanding turmoil and hardships. In times of trouble, when adversities are faced, ones true character is revealed. As Horace observed, prosperous circumstances do not elicit the same talents that times of struggles do. During these particular hard times, the true scope and depth of human nature is revealed.
Adversity's are ultimately inevitable in life. When these problems arise, individuals are generally stupefied at the response to such difficult situations. The adversity becomes a wall that is unable to be broken down, as usually there ability to respond has been dormant during prosperous circumstances. However, there is a point in an individual where their instincts reveal the truth, "what does not kill me makes me stronger." Qualities and characteristics of individuals are revealed during hard times that would never otherwise be seen as capable during good times. These talents, that are usually locked up give the ability for an individual to break down the wall that the adversity created. In this sense, a individuals true character and nature is revealed lending to a new understanding of the capability of human nature and the ability to overcome adversities. In John Steinbecks "Grapes of Wrath", the human response to challenges is revealed through the story of the Joad family. The 1930's dust bowl and simultaneously the Great Depression brought about a great time of suffering for numerous individuals. For the Joad family, life were stationed in Oklahoma where the dust bowl caused their farms produce to be depleted and thus a move to the west was necessary. For the Joads and other families, starvation, death, and poverty were the circumstances in which they lived under proved constant adversities. Steinbeck