Nature or Nurture

Are all human traits set and stone when they are born, are humans static for the entirety of their lives, or do humans change because of events that occur in their lifetime? What affects people more, nature or nurture?

In the story “I Stand Here Ironing” the main character Emily, was born a really bright, outgoing child, but when Emily’s mom had to work to support her child, as a single mother she had to let the “lady downstairs” look after her newborn. The “lady downstairs” did not like Emily at all and at an early age, Emily’s personality changed drastically due to nurture.                                                             Emily’s mother really wanted to be with Emily all the time, but due to financial reasons, her father left a few months after she was born. Emily was described as a blessing to her mother, Emily’s mother noticed that “the lady downstairs” did not think of Emily as a blessing in any form at all, and that effected Emily from a young age. After being babysat by “the lady downstairs” Emily was very different, she was no longer mom’s blessing because she was not as happy and playful all the time anymore, Emily was humbled by this incident.

Emily’s mother brought another man into her life, this resulted in less time between Emily and her mom. There were nights where Emily was waiting for her mom to come home so they could talk or just do something together because Emily never got much time with her mom.                                                                                                                                                                                                                  There were not many times where Emily was communicating with her mother because her mom was either working or she was out with her new husband. Consequently, Emily was practically neglected for most of her life. Emily caught measles when her mom was having her second child, so Emily was alone for around a week with no one around, the sickness left Emily weak, thin and prone to nightmares. Later, Emily caught tuberculosis, which resulted in her getting sent to a convalescent home where she could get the treatment she needed, the home would not allow patients to read their mail more than once, or any face to face communication with their family. After a few months, when Emily came back, she had no appetite and she was broken mentally.

Susan was Emily’s younger sister and she was also called a “blessing” by her mother as well. Susan and Emily are polar opposites in just about every way.                                                                            Susan would tell jokes at the family dinner and everyone would listen to her, she is a bit chubby for her age, she is very bright and outgoing. Conversely, Emily is neglected by her family, does not eat much, very small talk around her family because she is scared that her family is only paying attention to her younger sister. Emily would sometimes talk to Susan, Emily was kind of jealous of Susan because Susan is everything she is not.

In the story “I Stand Here Ironing” nurture played the biggest role, because Emily’s nature was really bright and ecstatic, but because of certain events in her life, it completely changed how she thinks, eats and does. Nature can only go so far in your life, before events occur in your life that can negatively or positively change your life for the time being, or forever.