Assignment Five: "Brute Neighbors"

Is Character an Instinct?

Having a good character and being a good person has been the aim of humankind since its existence (nevertheless, bad character is also character). What is actually meant by this and what elements are important to define character, I will try to find out in the following passages.

What does “character” actually mean? The Oxford Dictionary says, character is “all the qualities and features that make a person, groups of people, and places different from others”, but also “the opinion that people have of you, particularly of whether you can be trusted or relied on” (242). This means not only what makes a person different from others defines the character, but also how other people perceive the person—important to state is that people may notice character traits which are unconscious to the person itself; from this follows there are obvious and hidden character traits. Giving examples of 'trust' and 'reliability' also lets us deduce that speaking of character does not simply mean the behavior of a person, but in fact the behavior, decisions, and reactions on a moral level measured on social values depending on the cultural background.

“Abraham Lincoln said, 'Reputation is the shadow. Character is the tree.' Our character is much more than just what we try to display for others to see, it is who we are even when no one is watching [...]”². The result of which is that a character is not only what makes a person different from another, what others think of the person, what the person presents to others, but also how the person behaves when nobody is around. This is the very matter of fact, which troubles reliability and trust in a person. Can we ever be sure about fully knowing a person and his character? Is the person his character, or is the a person disconnected from his character? And how much is the person influenced by his surroundings? How much of his behavior is character, and how much is the reaction to his or her environment? Just like the loon Thoreau tries to catch: “His white breast, the stillness of the air, and the smoothness of the water were all against him” (145). For Thoreau it was very easy to spot the bird, whereas the loon probably would have behaved differently if his white breast would not betray him.

This leads us to the question of how much of a person's character is natural and how much was acquired through society and family. “Thoreau sees bravery, intelligence and spiritual depth in the instinctual behavior of animals. Can it be that some of the character traits we most admire in other persons are also matters of instinct, as with [...] animals [...]?”. To reveal the underlying components of a character at first one must define what instinct actually is: Instinct is “a natural tendency for people and animals to behave in a particular way using the knowledge and abilities that they were born with rather than thought or training” (Oxford Dictionary 807).

If bravery, intelligence and spiritual depth are considered to be instincts, where is the line between instinct and character? Going even further, bravery is a feature that can very much be acquired: One can overcome one's fears through training. However, fear seems to be an instinct which was made by nature to protect the living organism (like running away from fire in order to not get killed; whereas putting out the fire with a bucket of water is a conscious thought-out reaction). What would be the difference between a person who is “naturally” brave and a person who trained to become fearless? Going even further, if intelligence is considered to be an instinct, stupidity would be one, too—which means that “less intelligent” people are unable to improve, because they are “born that way”, which is the most discriminating claim to make.

However, it is probably impossible to draw a clear line between character and instinct. In conclusion, what we consider to be a person's character is probably a mixture of instinctual behavior implied by nature and character traits evolved by society and family. Thoreau finds himself interacting with the animals at Walden on an equal level: “I was myself excited somewhat even as if they had been men. The more you think of it, the less difference” (142), which could stand for the sameness of living creatures on earth, their behavior, and character. In the end, what does it matter if we call something instinct or character, if it contributes to a better living together: “[...] unless they love its[Walden Pond] water for the same reason that I do” (146).

1) "The Meaning of Character”, Home Page, http://www.character-training.com/blog/ (accessed 29 Dez. 2013).

2) “character.” “instinct.” Def. la. Oxford Dictionary. 2010. Print.

3) Thoreau, Henry David. Walden. USA: Reada.Classic, 2010. Print.