Do Parents Matter By Judith Harris Analysis

Many people question themselves about how someone came to be, why do they like or do the things they do. Some believe, that it depends on the kind of home or parents they were raised by, or maybe it is their friends, or maybe it is through their own personal experiences. Truth is there is no particular answer at this point. There are many theories and a bit of scientific findings but nothing has been found to be completely accurate. The following essays explain explain how the kind of environment and friends you have as you grow influences you to become the kind of person you are. In the short essay Do Parents Matter by Judith Rich Harris, an independent psychology researcher has a theory based on multiple studies she’s looked over, that

In the following quote from the essay David describes how smoking was allowed but he still was not amused by it, “...we witnessed the making of cigarettes and were given free packs to take home to our parents. I recall seeing ashtrays in movie theatres and grocery stores, but they didn’t make me want to smoke.In fact, it was just the opposite”. This demonstrates that although Sedaris was raised in a smoking environment where everyone both at home and outside smoked, it did not influence him to smoke, and as matter of fact he detested it. But later as an adult he becomes a strong cigarette smoker, along with his friends and describes this as bond. He says “Together we formed a foul little congress: the United Tarnations, the Fellowship of the Smoke Ring. These were my people, and now I would be betraying them, turning my back just when they needed me most”. This proves that Sedaris a now smoker felt like he was a part of something great. At this time smoking was now highly judged unlike before and he believed that if he quit he would be leaving behind this great group of friends and would no longer bond with them, because smoking was maybe the only thing they had in common. This goes along with Harris theory that people are influenced to do things based on their sorrouding environment. Because although Sedaris was not immediately impacted to smoke as a child later on he and his friends still became smokers, it does not matter who influenced who but what matters is the fact that they influenced each other just like Harris theory