Effects of Childhood Influences on Adults

Although many believe a personality is inherited at birth, certain traits develop from certain experiences throughout life. Obtaining a personality based on childhood influences is accurately represented by the main characters in the short stories Long Long After School, written by Ernest Buckler, and A Teachers’ Rewards, written by Robert Phillips. In both stories, the authors demonstrated the affects that bullying can have on certain individuals, not only in the moment it’s occurring, but in the long run as well. In Long Long After School, Wes portrays an African American male attending a school that’s attended predominately by white people. As a result, Wes is discriminated against for his skin colour by the students and faculty except for one teacher, Miss Trethewey. She saw Wes for who he was as a person rather than judging him based on his skin colour. In the short story, A Teachers’ Rewards, Raybe portrays a lower-class student that got tormented for his lack of wealth by his classmates and his teacher, Ms. Scofield. Unlike Ms. Trethewey, Ms. Scofield did not see Raybe for who he truly was beyond his appearance. As a result, both characters lived different lives that were heavily influenced by the experiences they had during their childhood.

Wes and Raybe grew up in opposite environments which led to differently experienced childhoods. Wes, unlike Raybe, had people in his life that cared about him. When Wes was younger, he punched a glass window that left him in need of a blood transplant, but “in those days no one felt too comfortable about having his blood siphoned” (Buckler, 52) because of the dangerous connotation associated with it. Despite the risk, Wes’s mother was willing to do it to keep her son safe. His mother was unable to follow through because she had a different blood type, but expressing she wanted to take the risk proved how much she loved him. Wes’s schoolteacher though, Miss Trethewey, offered to donate her blood for Wes to survive. It was not only a risk for someone to donate their blood to someone else, but Wes believed it was uncommon when it was for a person of a different race stating that “…no one felt like taking any chances for [him]…” (Buckler, 52). But Miss Trethewey was willing to give “a whole quart” (Buckler, 52) of blood to Wes for him to survive. Miss Trethewey risked her life and reputation to donate blood to Wes which clearly depicts how much Miss Trethewey also cared for Wes. Alternatively, Raybe was not exposed to the same affection that Wes was. From when he was young, Raybe’s parents and grandfather had died and he was left with his aunt who couldn’t provide much for him which left Raybe feeling isolated. The feeling of isolation heightened when he attended school because Raybe was constantly bullied by his teacher, Miss Scofield, in front of the class which hindered his ability to create friendships with the other kids as “The other kids left [him] out of things, because [Miss Scofield was] always saying [he] was bad” (Philips, 386). The bullying exemplifies that not only did Raybe have no support at home, but he had none at school either. In the end, Wes, although consistently picked on by his community, had people such as his mother and Miss Trethewey that cared for his wellbeing, whereas, Raybe had very little people that supported him. As a result of these outside influences, Wes and Raybe continued to lead different lives.

As a result of their upbringings, Wes and Raybe’s influences during their childhood led them to pursue different futures.  Wes, although bullied by his community, had people in his life that cared for him. He was able to overcome the hardships of his childhood and became known as the “caretaker-about-town” (Buckler, 48) by the people that used to bully him. This occupation signifies that he grew up to become a caring person. Moreover, Wes is also known as the guy that has a house that “is furnished with almost nothing but books” (Buckler, 48), and “can quote anyone from Seneca to Henry James” (Buckler, 48). He has a reputation of being a knowledgeable man which is a favourable trait to have. In addition, he put a corsage on Miss Trethewey’s grave which exemplifies how he didn’t disregard the risks she took in standing up for him. The action symbolizes the constant love and respect he has for everything Miss Trethewey did to help him. Because of this, Wes grew up to be an honourable man despite the hardships he faced during his childhood. Alternatively, Raybe underwent constant teasing from his teacher and peers during his childhood and had no one that could support him through it. Because of that, he went down the wrong path and hung out with the “rocky crowd” (Philips, 386) which landed him in jail for 10 years. Following his release, Raybe confronted Miss Scofield for the harassment during his schoolyears. Raybe acted with aggression to get back at her which exemplifies how he grew up to become demoralized and hateful towards others. Wes was able to overcome adversities and become a respectable man, but Raybe expresses, through his actions, that he was unable to do the same. Wes lives a content life despite the trouble he was put through at a young age, whereas Raybe grew to have immense hatred towards others.

While they were both stereotyped during their childhood, the actions Wes and Raybe perused later in life exemplified their true characters. When Wes was younger, he was discriminated for his skin colour. “The kids used to tease [him] at school” (Buckler, 50), he was referred to as “dirty” (Buckler, 50) by his classmates, and make comments about how he would be “turning pale” (Buckler, 50) or “blushing” (Buckler, 50). After all the harassment he was put through, Wes grew up to stand up for himself. The narrator of the story was a former classmate of Wes that picked on him, but after Wes told his perspective of his childhood, the narrator was able to see Wes’ true character. Being able to change the perspective of someone who stereotyped him proves that Wes grew up to be nothing like how he was categorized. Moreover, Raybe was stereotyped based on his lack of wealth. His former teacher believed that he had “no motivation” (Philips, 385), “no follow-through” (Philips, 385) and claims that she “knew where [he’d] end up” (Philips, 385). She believed that since he came from little money that he was eventually going to go to jail because that’s “true to form” (Philips, 385) for people like him. Raybe got in with a “rocky crowd” (Philips, 386) and ended up in jail for ten years just as Miss Scofield predicted. When Raybe confronted Miss Scofield, instead of using his words to express himself like Wes did, he chose to use violence. He rapped her knuckles with a hammer which just continued to illustrate his stereotype. The actions Wes and Raybe ensued later in life expressed their true nature. Wes overcame the hate given by his community and lived a content life, whereas Raybe ended up in jail and acted according to the way he was categorized.

Wes and Raybe grew up to live unlike futures as a result of their different upbringings. Wes had a mother and teacher that stood up for him, but Raybe had no one on his side. These differences contributed in their dissimilar futures. Wes grew up to become an honourary man, one that no one believed he could be at a younger age, therefore overcoming the stereotype that was placed on him during his school years. Contrarily, Raybe grew up to be exactly how his teacher said he was going to be. He went to jail for many years and decided he wanted to get back at his former teacher for everything she put him through by using violence. Raybe grew up to be “true to form” (Philips, 385).Childhood influences don’t just affect adulthood, but they determine how the adult’s personality and behavior will be like. Differentchildhood experiences account for the differences that every individual has when they are older.

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