When I was reading "Pudd'nhead Wilson" I was interested by the comments Twain made about Tom and Chambers personalities as they grew up and if their actions were because of nature or nurture in their upbringing.
When Roxy switched the boys she thought no one would ever find out, as the reader I knew that wasn't the case and that the fingerprints would have something to do with the discovery.
After the switch, Tom (who was really Chambers), was raised in a wealthy family who gets in trouble with gambling, stealing and murder. Through Roxy, Twain suggests that Tom's behavior is a result of his racial heritage. As if he was born with these personality traits because he is black.
However, Chambers (who is really Tom), grows up as a slave is a good person who obeys this orders and doesn't get into much trouble. At the end of the novel when Chambers returns to his rightful position he is unable to assume the role as a wealthy white person. This suggests that Twain believes he could not assume these roles, because of the way he was brought up.
This idea is conflicting and shows that Twain feels that in different circumstances nature and nurture play different roles in peoples lives. This is interesting to me because in the same novel Twain doesn't really take a stance on this issue. Two characters have two different stipulations to address why they act a certain way.
I believe there is a balance within a person and the characteristics that are because of nature and those from nurture. I believe nurture has a lot to do with the way people change and grow through time. I don't believe that all characteristics come from nature; a lot can come from your experiences and the environment you grow up in.
In my life I feel more of who I am today is the environment I was brought up in and the people I am surrounded with. However, I also have characteristics that I was born with.
It is a very fine line, and I understand why Twain didn't take a stance, but I wish he would have.
I like your comparison of nature VS nurture as evident in Twain's story. I agree that he leaves that issue ambiguous in the end. I felt conflicted about where Twain stood in that argument when I was first reading, but felt more comfortable thinking that Twain was critiquing those aspects of "gentleman" that were conditioned or nurtured, rather than Chambers was naturally immoral because of his distant heritage. I do not know if I was right to think that, but I do not think that Twain was racist. I think he was struggling with the subject, but he values cultural difference.
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