We often wonder whether a person's character is instilled at birth or through the environment in which one grew up. Mark Twain's novel Pudd'nhead Wilson makes the latter point by describing the development of two boys of the same age, Chambers and Tom. A slave named Roxy raises the two boys, but although she is able to discipline Chambers, her own son, she is forbidden from punishing her master's son, Tom. So, as the boys become adults throughout the story, it becomes apparent that while race and natural factors may have a slight impact on a person's development, it is primarily upbringing and the environment which determine the quality of his adult character. Say no to plagiarism. . Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay When the boys are infants, Roxy changes them so that her son Chambers grows up as Tom and Tom as Chambers. The boys are both very light-skinned and the same age, so no one notices the change, and the real Chambers easily passes for a white Tom. Fake Tom is an obnoxious child from the moment they are swapped. He constantly cries, scratches and hits anyone within his reach. However, rather than reprimand him, Percy Driscoll, Roxy's owner and Tom's real father, forces Roxy to ignore Tom's outbursts and indulge his every whim. “He indulged his every whim, however annoying and exasperating they might be” (Twain 76). In addition to having a loving mother in Roxy, Tom has a personal bodyguard in Chambers. So although Tom is widely disliked among his peers, he is not often heckled because he has Chambers' almost constant protection. Thus, Tom becomes an adult believing that he can get away with any offense, and this belief ends up being his downfall. Needing money to pay off his gambling debts, Tom accidentally murders his father when he is caught stealing from him. However, as two Italian twins whom Tom despises are brought to justice for the murder in his place, Tom becomes complacent as he believes there is no way to catch him. Tom even goes so far as to make fun of Pudd'nhead Wilson, the twins' defense attorney. As Pudd'nhead attempts to shed light on the case using his collection of fingerprints, Tom exclaims, "Hello, we have returned to the fun of our days of neglect and obscurity for us comfort, right? » (Twain 207)? It is at this point that Tom leaves a fingerprint on one of Pudd'nhead's glass strips, leading Pudd'nhead to the revelation that it is Tom's fingerprint on the handle of the knife used in murder. This complacent behavior stems directly from Roxy's permissive parenting during Tom's upbringing. As Tom has never been punished for any wrongdoing in his life, the idea that he could be arrested for the murder does not seem feasible to him, and he spends his time admiring the ingenuity with which he escaped the suspicions in this matter. Conditioned by his youth to hide and let others take responsibility for his wrongdoings, Tom is shocked when the story he is hiding behind collapses and he is held accountable for his actions for the first time. Chambers' childhood is very different from Tom's, as he is forced to tolerate Tom's constant abuse. While Tom is conditioned to believe he is superior to everyone, Chambers is forced into docile submission. When Tom hits him, rather than fighting back, Chambers must meekly endure the blows, the.