Nature and nurture interact and play a critical role in every individual’s life, but ultimately one overpowers the other. Psychosocial rehabilitation specialist and author of Everything Psychology Book, Kendra Cherry, refers to nature as “all of the genes and hereditary factors that influence who we are” and refers to nurture as “all the environmental variables that impact who we are, including our early childhood experiences, how we were raised, our social relationships, and our surrounding culture” (Cherry). The Round House, written by Louise Erdrich, proves nurture has a greater impact on an individual's behavior and personality than nature does. Despite being of like nature, Linda and Linden Lark, biological twins in the novel, have different
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Linden Lark’s behaviors and personalities come from his childhood experiences with the Larks, his biological parents. George and Grace Lark “are the sort of people who trot out their relationships with ‘good Indians,’ whom they secretly despise and [...] whom they are engaged in cheating” (Erdrich 50). A few years after abandoning Linda, the Larks appealed to the court to receive guardianship of her because they thought they could inherit 160 acres the Wishkob’s left behind when they passed. It was a “clumsy, greedy, mean-minded attempt to raid and profit” (Erdrich 51). Linden experienced hatred and cheating towards Native Americans as a child and as a result, he expresses the same hatred and cheating towards Native Americans. Kendra Cherry writes in her Everything Psychology Book that a way a child “behaves can be linked to influences such as parenting styles and learned experiences” (Cherry). While raping Geraldine, Linden says “I suppose I am one of those people who just hates Indians generally and especially for they were at odds with my folks way back but especially my feeling is that Indian woman are” — Geraldine could not say what they called her and other Indian women (Erdrich 161). Linda and Linden Lark’s personalities and behaviors are a direct result of their early childhood experiences, however their childhood experience is not all that has shaped
Linden Lark’s behaviors and personalities come from his childhood experiences with the Larks, his biological parents. George and Grace Lark “are the sort of people who trot out their relationships with ‘good Indians,’ whom they secretly despise and [...] whom they are engaged in cheating” (Erdrich 50). A few years after abandoning Linda, the Larks appealed to the court to receive guardianship of her because they thought they could inherit 160 acres the Wishkob’s left behind when they passed. It was a “clumsy, greedy, mean-minded attempt to raid and profit” (Erdrich 51). Linden experienced hatred and cheating towards Native Americans as a child and as a result, he expresses the same hatred and cheating towards Native Americans. Kendra Cherry writes in her Everything Psychology Book that a way a child “behaves can be linked to influences such as parenting styles and learned experiences” (Cherry). While raping Geraldine, Linden says “I suppose I am one of those people who just hates Indians generally and especially for they were at odds with my folks way back but especially my feeling is that Indian woman are” — Geraldine could not say what they called her and other Indian women (Erdrich 161). Linda and Linden Lark’s personalities and behaviors are a direct result of their early childhood experiences, however their childhood experience is not all that has shaped