The debate on nurture verses nature has been going on for many decades. It has been the topic of many movies too, one of those being the 1956 thriller The Bad Seed. This movie is about a young girl, Rhoda, who when faced with a problem decides the best way to solve it is murder. The mother of this seemingly angelic child, Christine Penmark, becomes increasingly suspicious that her daughter has something to do with the death of her classmate, Claude Daigle. This suspicion only grows after finding a belonging of that classmate in Rhoda’s bedroom that she envied. Her mother, refuses to believe her gut at first because Rhoda was raised in such a prominent family and wealthy neighborhood. However, through a twist of events Christine finds she is actually the daughter of Bessie Denker, a well-known mass murderer. Rhoda finally confesses to killing the small boy, but even after that, her mother tries to help her by destroying the evidence. Christine feels guilty about passing on this murderous gene, and feels that she is partly to blame. The subject of nature verses nurture is brought up throughout this movie.
Both sides of the nurture verses nature argument are understandable. On the nurture side, it supports the fact that the environment around an individual is most prominent in shaping one’s personality. It is true that “the influence of “nurture” comes from all the environment factors that affect us from conception to death” (39). Being born into a family that is very strict would make a child much different had they been born into a family that is very liberal. One’s friends, culture, and educational experience also have a lot to do with shaping one’s behavior. However, on the nature side it supports genetics shaping the majority of one’s personality. There are billions of nucleotides in our genetic code that make us who we are. They “are responsible for predisposing our appearance and behavior, not for concretely determining either” (41). If one’s...