Nature Vs Nurture

The nature vs. nurture argument has been around for centuries, and here it is, relevant once again.  In the book: “The Lord of the Flies” by William Golding, many people debate what the primary responsibility for the boys’ behavior on the island was: nature or nurture. In the book, a group of boys are stranded on an island with no rules or guidance in which they tried to set up their own rules and a society to survive. This was quickly destroyed for this reason: throughout the book the peaceful kids had to go against the insane kids in which created conflict. The peaceful kids represented nurture while the insane kids represented nature. Nurture did play a role in the kids’ actions in the book, but nature was the main responsibility in the boys’ behaviors.

        Nature refers to instincts or genetics in someone. "Nature, or genetics, has been proven to be an important factor in the development of some mental health conditions, such as schizophrenia, bipolar, and major depression: Bipolar, for example, is four to six times more likely to develop when there is a family history of the condition” (Nature vs. Nurture). In Lord of the Flies, in chapter 9, Simon comes out of the woods, creepily, immersed with a shadowy figure. Without even thinking all of the boys including Ralph (the sane one) started to attack him through fear. Instead of thinking through the situation, the evil side of the boys came out, resulting in an innocent life being taken. Another example in the Lord of the Flies is in chapter 2, Ralph was trying to get order in their meeting but instead all of the boys were thrilled of the idea of no rules. Not listening to Ralph, a lot of the boys ran off with excitement. Also in the same book, but in the very first chapter, Ralph, Simon, and Jack were walking back from exploration and found a pig stuck in some vines. Jack, the new chosen hunter, grabbed his knife and stepped in to kill it but he just couldn’t do it, and the pig freed itself and ran off. The nature aspect of this situation is telling them that the pig is prey, which needs to be killed to feed the boys; however, on the other side of this situation is the nurture aspect of it. It’s telling them that this is ending a life of an innocent creature in which they grew up learning that these acts are wrong. Nature wasn’t the only thing that led to some of the acts that the boys committed. Nurture also played a role in it as well.         

“Nurture refers to 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” (The Age Old Debate…). Also as said in Nature Nurture in Psychology, the environmentalists’ basic assumption is that at birth the human mind is a tabula rasa or a blank slate that is gradually filled as a result of experience. In chapter 4 of the Lord of the Flies, Roger was throwing rocks at Henry, but he wouldn’t even come close to hitting him. Surrounding Henry was like a force field, which you could consider was Roger’s old life he was thinking of. He was taught growing up that harming other people was a no no that would lead to serious punishments. Also in which society would look down on you because of it. In chapter 11, Ralph told Jack that they would not be painted, because they weren’t savages. This is a great instance of nurture, because he realized that it wasn’t right so he told them no since he didn’t want to completely be involved in what they were doing.