Definition Essay
Charles Lawson
Showalter
DE English 12
11/17/12
Human Nature Oscar Wilde said "The only thing that one really knows about human nature is that it changes. Change is the one quality we can predicate from it. The systems that fail are those who rely on the permanency of human nature, and not on its growth and development. The error of Louis XIV was that he thought human nature would always be the same. The result of his error was the French Revolution. It was an admirable result." Human nature is directly proportionate to the environment in which the people grow. Without the rough life on the street, a young urban boy may not get into trouble. Without experiences with others, humans would have no nature. It is through those interactions that human nature is developed.
The boys that were marooned on the island in “The Lord of the Flies” came from an environment of war and fear. If they had come from a different beginning, if they had been evacuated for different reasons, there would have been far less bloodshed, and no Lord of the Flies at all. If they had arrived at the island with a background of happiness and coexistence, there could not have existed a beast which Golding classified as the basic evil inside all of us. Another aspect of this is that children try to copy what they see adults do. If a child watches his or her parent drink and smoke their whole growing life, they will be more inclined to smoke and drink as well. As George Orwell said "Part of the reason for the ugliness of adults, in a child 's eyes, is that the child is usually looking upwards, and the adults are rarely looking down. Yet no matter what they will always adore, look up to and love their parents." Children look up to their parents, and their nature is molded at a young age. Its form is taken from what they see around them. Very rarely will someone be able to break this pattern and develop his own nature.
Children with smokers for parents have a 40% higher chance of smoking than
Showalter
DE English 12
11/17/12
Human Nature Oscar Wilde said "The only thing that one really knows about human nature is that it changes. Change is the one quality we can predicate from it. The systems that fail are those who rely on the permanency of human nature, and not on its growth and development. The error of Louis XIV was that he thought human nature would always be the same. The result of his error was the French Revolution. It was an admirable result." Human nature is directly proportionate to the environment in which the people grow. Without the rough life on the street, a young urban boy may not get into trouble. Without experiences with others, humans would have no nature. It is through those interactions that human nature is developed.
The boys that were marooned on the island in “The Lord of the Flies” came from an environment of war and fear. If they had come from a different beginning, if they had been evacuated for different reasons, there would have been far less bloodshed, and no Lord of the Flies at all. If they had arrived at the island with a background of happiness and coexistence, there could not have existed a beast which Golding classified as the basic evil inside all of us. Another aspect of this is that children try to copy what they see adults do. If a child watches his or her parent drink and smoke their whole growing life, they will be more inclined to smoke and drink as well. As George Orwell said "Part of the reason for the ugliness of adults, in a child 's eyes, is that the child is usually looking upwards, and the adults are rarely looking down. Yet no matter what they will always adore, look up to and love their parents." Children look up to their parents, and their nature is molded at a young age. Its form is taken from what they see around them. Very rarely will someone be able to break this pattern and develop his own nature.
Children with smokers for parents have a 40% higher chance of smoking than
Cited: Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. New York: Perigee, 1954. Print Wilde, Oscar. The Works of Oscar Wilde. Mattituck: Amereon Limited, 1932. Print. Orwell, George. A Collection of Essays. San Diego: Harcourt, 1946. Print.