Nature or nurture in the story “I Stand Here Ironing” written by Tillie Olson. Throughout the story, nurture is shown through Emily’s behavior more than nature. The mother has gone through many struggles such as divorce, giving birth to another child, and dealing with multiple jobs to support the family. All of these things have affected the mother in giving Emily the proper care that she needed. Not only did Emily deal with the lack of nurture from her mother, but she was constantly sent away to homes on multiple occasions because of the mother’s inability to support two children. From the disconnection between Emily and her mother, Emily became independent in developing her own personality; she had no time to develop the possibly hereditary traits. Neglect is the one thing that shaped Emily as an individual. She became introverted, depressed, and frail. However, when she discovered her love for comedy she began to see her true self. Emily became healthy, confident, and happy because of her success. As well as she made more friends than she did before. At the end, Emily was blamed for everything that the mother has gone through in life. In a sense it is true but, there is never an excuse for bad parenting. Most people acquire their personality from the environment around you. There has been a debate about nature vs nurture and it has been one of the longest arguments that have gone on for years. The human development through nature is shown more physically than internally. For example, nature affects your interests, and maybe your aggression. However, studies have shown that people with schizophrenia, anxiety, depression, and alcoholism are inherited through nurture rather than nature. It is said that nurture develops traits mainly through the individuals experiences growing up. However, there is no right or wrong answer, but by reading various resources, like articles, blogs, and stories like “I Stand Here Ironing”, etc, you can decide where you stand in this debate. In my opinion, nurture as a huge effect on what our traits are. When Emily was constantly sent away because the mother’s inability to support the family I would imagine Emily feeling unwanted and that her younger sibling was more loved and important. However, once she found her passion, which was the comedy, Emily began to feel more confident with herself. If her past was to be different, having supportive and caring parents, Emily would not have to go through the multiple events that occurred in her life. Even though there are very good points on the nature side of the argument, how we become the person we are today is based on our experiences and the environment we surround ourselves with.