Preview

Nature vs Nurture Mario Puzo - Peter Cary

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2801 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Nature vs Nurture Mario Puzo - Peter Cary
Nature Vs. Nurture
Mario Puzo's, Omerta, reflects the theory of Thomas Hobbes In the state of nature, where the theory states, that in the state of nature"…no account of time; no arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."(The Modern Age: Ideas In Western Civilization, Page 37-30) In Peter Cary's, True History of the Kelly Gang, which conveys the theory of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, "Man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains. One thinks himself the master of others, and still remains a greater slave than they. How did this change come about? I do not know. What can make it legitimate? That question I think I can answer…human beings were good in the state of nature and that in civilization there is the basis of corruption." (The Modern Age: Ideas In Western Civilization, Page 35- 38)
Mario Puzo's, Omerta, suggests the theory of Hobbes, that the state of human society is based on human nature and genetics, whereas Peter Carey suggests the theory of Rousseau in his novel, True History of the Kelly Gang, nurture is the main influence, and that geography and human government control future human development, where every subject is or can be subject to change. In Omerta, Don Raymond Aprile adopted Astorre, who had the genetics of a great Mafia Don. In the novel True History of the Kelly Gang, Ned Kelly loses his father at the age of 12 and is left to be raised by his mother and small extended family. In Omerta, Astorre has two brothers and one sister who have little influence on his decisions, whereas in True History of the Kelly Gang, Ned also has siblings but they play a far more significant role in his upbringing, mainly because they can not care for themselves and need his help to survive. In Omerta, Astorre grows up around violence and illegal activities and has a natural talent for being a leader. Ned Kelly, on the opposite end of the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    At first sight, Locke’s The Second Treatise of Government, seemed quite similar to Hobbes’s Leviathan. They both believed that a state of nature is a state that exist without government. They believe that men are created equal in this state, however Hobbes argues that because of self-preservation, man possessed the desire to control over other man. Locke, on the other hand, reasons with a more peaceful and pleasant place.…

    • 789 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Richard Kuklinski was born on April 11, 1935, in Jersey City, New Jersey, just outside of New York City. He spent his childhood in a low income housing project, the son of a brakeman and a meat packer. A scrawny child, he was often teased by the boys in the neighborhood. His nicknames were "Richie the rag boy", "Hobo Richie", and "The Skinny Polack." He was also beaten up by these bullies.…

    • 10414 Words
    • 42 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Rousseau depicts man in his natural state as innocent and good, blaming the invention of property as the root of societal inequalities and lamenting the sacrifice of liberty required of members of a state. Rousseau's early man is deemed non-confrontational, concerned only with 'self-preservation'…

    • 252 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Nature vs. nurture: We need to be aware that behavior is complex and that it results from both biological and cultural influence. We need to avoid both biological and cultural determinism…

    • 999 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    The psychological debate of nature vs. nurture is one that has been considered and contradicted for many years. This debate is so controversial because although it is fact that genetic makeup does play a major role in developing a person, the nurture and environment in which a person is brought up in is also an important factor.…

    • 1609 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    CNDV 5301

    • 423 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Question 1: Which theory or theories focus more on the importance of nature than nurture? Which theory or theories take a strong position that nurture is more important than nature?…

    • 423 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    First, Hobbes imagines the state of nature as what would result if humans were free from laws and societal expectations, a conception which has latent problems. Conceiving of the state of nature in this way predisposes Hobbes to imagine simply taking already-socialized human beings and freeing them of the constraints of civil society and the force of authority. In Discourse on the Origin of Inequality, Rousseau argues that Hobbes, and other political theorists, have not removed the effects of society from their conceptions of natural man. Rousseau writes that his objective involves “separating what he [man] derives from his own wherewithal from what circumstances and his progress have added to or changed in his primitive state”…

    • 1545 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    One of the most apparent differences in the two authors’ (John Locke and Thomas Hobbes) point-of-views is their interpretations of what ungoverned societies, or humans in general, are like in their natural state.…

    • 595 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    I enjoy the work of Art Spiegelman. Spiegelman uses the playful medium of comic books in order to communicate his thoughts and feeling on more serious topics. He is the only person to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for a comic book.…

    • 607 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Anth 100 Essay 1

    • 2092 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Our society’s progression originates from the ideologies, principles, and dogmas passed down through a succession of different philosophical thinkers. We will focus our attention upon the post-Columbian European and American thinkers who have implemented their beliefs to assess the origins of human nature. This essay will provide a greater understanding between Michel de Montaigne, Rousseau Jean-Jacques and Thomas Hobbes with their descriptions of human nature, society’s origin, and the forces that propelled change in human history.…

    • 2092 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    John Locke - "Second Treatise of Civil Government" 1. Locke describes the the state of nature as a law of Nature to govern and reason that no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty or possessions. There cannot be any subordination that authorizes one to destroy another. All men may be restrained from invading others' rights. And finally, it's where one man comes by a power over another, but yet no absolute or arbitrary power to use a criminal.…

    • 566 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    A state of nature; a life where no governable state exists and no one possesses political power. ‘Why do we not live in a state of nature?’ some may ask. Why must we be under the government’s power? The first step in understanding why we have something, like the government, is to consider what life would be like without it. There has been many different concepts over time as to what a ‘state of nature’ really is and if life really would be awful without it. Initially, Hobbes believed that in a state of nature, all men would turn ‘nasty and brutish’ and life would turn into a never-ending cycle of crime and war as there would be no one there to stop us. On the contrary, Locke believed that man would be content in a state of nature, that life would be the opposite of awful and we would act morally towards each other due to the social contract. Thirdly, Rousseau thought that if we ever found ourselves in a state of nature, men would turn to savages, but would be happy with it.…

    • 1094 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Thomas Hobbes contribution was the suggestion that the social order was made by human beings and therefore could be changed by human beings. Hobbes looked on the individual as selfish, concerned with self-preservation, searching for power, and (potentially at least) at war with others. For Hobbes, in the state of nature, there was a war of all against all and life is nasty, brutish, and short. Since individuals are rational, they agree to surrender their individual rights to the sovereign in order to create a state whereby they can be protected from other individuals. Locke and Rousseau further developed this idea of a social contract, although in a somewhat different form than Hobbes.…

    • 560 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Rousseau states that Hobbes and Locke mischaracterize the state of nature, since man is not motivated by greed, envy or material things in a true state of nature. From Rousseau point of view man would be motivated by love to the self and self preservation. Rousseau expresses how animals does not have a need for material things and they life in a state of nature.…

    • 65 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    State of Nature

    • 1374 Words
    • 6 Pages

    What is the state of nature? The state of nature is a term in political philosophy that describes a circumstance prior to the state and society's establishment. Philosophers, mainly social contract theory philosophers, and political thinkers such as Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and Jean Jacques Rousseau discussed and considered the "state of nature" as a starting point to their political and philosophical ideas. John Locke, whose work influenced the American Declaration of Independence, believes that the state of nature is the state where are individuals are completely equal, natural law regulates, and every human being has the executive power of the natural law. Similarly Jean Jacques Rousseau, whose writings are said to influence the French revolution, also assumed a state of nature prior to the formation of a "political person". However Rousseau had a different view about the state of nature. According to Rousseau the state of nature is a condition where private individual interest dominates over the public good and general will.…

    • 1374 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays