From the time I began high-school until now I have been hearing many arguments about human nature. Are humans inherently good, or inherently bad? It seems to me that it has been an ongoing discussion throughout history. It appears in old writing, such as most of Shakespeare’s writings, but also in modern children’s books. It has been discussed throughout the ages, yet no one appears to have come to a definitive answer to the question. What seems like a simple question becomes complicated as one looks at the complex dynamics it encompasses.

To begin, a major complication is the individuality of each person. No two people are the same and neither are their motives behind their actions. Two individuals can have the exact same upbringing with the same opportunities throughout life, yet one might end up a pastor of a church and the other in jail. How could this be? There is no black and white answer, maybe one individual was impacted differently by a particular situation causing the direction of their life to be altered from that point on. Maybe we should consider that some individuals can be inherently good, while others bad. There is no uniform trait, it is entirely dependent on the individual.

Next, regardless of how bad a person is, they didn’t start out that way and throughout their life they have done things that emanate goodness. A textbook example of this could be Adolf Hitler. Clearly, at one point, he was an innocent child. When looking at his life and political career in out political science class, it becomes clear that his bad behaviour develops throughout his time. He found a cause which he believed in, and allowed the end he desired to justify the means of achieving this end. Somewhere along the line, he lost sight of Jewish people as human beings. He made a decision for himself to be bad.

In Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel, Persepolis, we see a young girl who battles with a decision of being good or bad. It is fascinating to watch her flip back and forth as she learns how to deal with the events taking place around her. At times, when she is less informed as to what is going on, she makes quick and rash decisions which often end with decisions to be bad. For example, after seeing the violence which takes place around her, she desires to get violent herself and attempts to beat up a boy at her school. On the other hand, she works to maintain goodness in a time where everything around her seems bad. Depending on what is happening around her, she goes allows herself to travel back and forth from being good, to bad.

My belief is that people are neither inherently good or bad. Both of these characteristics reside in each person and it is up to them which one they allow to develop. At any time, a person can switch from one to another, but it is ultimately their own decision. Also,it isn’t something a person has to be on one side or the other of. Rather, it is a spectrum which a person can reside at any point on. Major life events likely impact where on the spectrum they allow themselves to remain, but it is ultimately their decision where they choose.