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In the novel East of Eden by John Steinbeck, one of the main characters, Caleb Trask, continuously struggles with the evil within him. At one point in his life, Caleb is certain that the struggle is a lost cause. This realization was brought about when he found out that his mother was a whore and generally an evil person. Caleb feels that his struggle with evil will be inevitably lost because it has been passed down to him through heredity. Lee, Caleb's servant and friend, tries to help him realize the struggle of Nature versus Nurture.
The genes passed down from parents do not necessarily set an individuals temperament and personality as the person has his own morality, free choice and conscience which he acquires and can practice throughout his life. Morality is the set of rules that one sets for himself, dealing with what is good and what is bad. This set of rules can vary from individual to individual and is not passed down through genes. A child has to be taught what is morally right and what is wrong and this learning process continues throughout life as the individual begins to contemplate more difficult situations.
Parents are often a significant contributing factor in their childs morality as they are the ones who are most observed by the child. The decisions the parents make will have a significant effect on the childs distinction between right and wrong. If a child observes the parents perform an act which would be morally wrong for many people, the child will not have as much of an opposition to that act in later years. Since young children look up to parents, what they do is right and therefore their actions, even if not accepted by society, will be accepted by the young child.
His mother did not influence Caleb's morality, for she left when he was of a young age. His moral values were largely attributed to his father and Lee. One example of this is the strong dislike for lying that Lee imbedded in Caleb. Although important, parents are not the only factors in the development of an individuals morality. There are morals that are generally accepted by almost all of the population.
Most people realize, at some point in their lives, that harming others is not morally right. Caleb has other influences, like Abra and Will Hamilton, to give him a sense of moral values. Morality is brought about by the surroundings and experiences of the individual rather than by set patters in inherited genes. The distinction between a person who is good or evil is not based on their morality, but on how the individual uses this set of rules. An individual might have the most pure and innocent morality set up in their mind and still be an evil person. Rules do no good if they are not followed.
This brings in the point of free choice. Free choice is something every human being is born with. This quality is what allows people to decide between a good or bad action regardless of heredity, pressure from other sources, and circumstances. Lee always told Caleb that everything he did was of his own free choice and to blame his wrongs on heredity was a cowardly reaction. Free choice is a beautiful thing but it bears with it the responsibility of being accountable for your own actions. Everything you do is your personal choice and although your options may seem few, there is always a choice involved.
Free choice allows a person to live by his own rules of morality in an attempt at being a good person. The missing piece or question that should now be asked is what makes a person want to choose the response that goes by their personal morality? Good morals and the freedom of choice are important factors in being a good person but they are in themselves not completely enough. All people have the freedom to choose right from wrong, and acquired morals allow the individual to distinguish between the two but this does not mean the person will do what is right. It may be morally right and yet the individual has the free choice to go against morality. This is where a sense of conscience comes in.
Conscience is the part of a human that tells him or her to do what his right. A feeling of guilt is the threat for going against ones conscience and there is no escaping it. This is the determining factor of being a good or evil human being. Everyone has free choice; you are born with it. It is inevitable that you pick up some good morals throughout your life, giving you the chance of being a good person, but conscience is the deciding factor. The conscience tells you to do what is right but you still have your free choice not to listen.
You have the option of living with the guilt and perhaps even suppressing it. If free choice is a gift you are born with, and morality is acquired throughout your life, is conscience hereditary? Some people seem to have an ability at shutting their conscience out or suppressing guilt but does that get passed down through genes? In Caleb's case, he had a strong sense of conscience even though his mother did not seem to have any. It also seemed that she had no feelings of guilt but that was proven wrong by the end of her life. Finally, her guilt caught up with her and the unbearable burden caused her to end her life.
Perhaps everyone has guilt but maybe some people deny it until it becomes unbearable and destroys them. It seems that all individuals have a conscience but sometimes it is pushed aside when the individual attempts to take a shortcut. Conscience is what allows a person to know if he is a good or bad individual and it is the determining factor in the persons temperament and personality. Caleb thought there was no hope for him to break free of his haunting genes. He figured that evil was in him and he could not win against it because his mother did not beat the evil within herself. Lee instilled the though in him that he did not have to follow his mothers pattern.
He had to make his own choice between good and evil. Lee told him that it was cowardly to blame his wrong decisions on heredity. Caleb had the free choice to use his good morals as his conscience saw fit. Heredity had nothing to do with Caleb's ability of being a good or evil person
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