Our Secret

1363 Words3 Pages

Every individual has a biological influence on their development; two individuals combine their genetic information to create a new organism, carrying biological predispositions that will shape their expressed behaviors and characteristics. However, Susan Griffin, author of the essay “Our Secret,” argues that while genetic influences are significant, they are not the sole contributors to an individual’s development. Throughout her essay, Griffin reveals to her readers that the presence of external, uncontrollable factors from an individual’s environment can be equally influential as they diverge the individual off of the predetermined path of life created by biological factors. Griffin begins her exploration of these external factors through her interconnected “matrix” that connects all individuals to each other and world around them. Griffin states that each individual “is a part of a large matrix of relationship and society…all the lives that surround [them] are in [them]” (Griffin 371). Griffin indicates that there are societal circumstances that a person does not have a choice in at birth, such as military or political presence, cultural and ethnic background, and socio-economic status; these external factors of the “matrix” are molded into the lives of each individual, shaping them to match their surroundings (Griffin 371). At the same time, the influence of relationships on an individual is also a crucial component to the “matrix.” An individual does not get to choose their biological parents or the family that they are born into. The actions exhibited by a person’s family and the treatment they receive from those individuals provides an influential model for behavior; all the lives that “surround [them] are in [them]” as Gr... ... middle of paper ... ...ed me recognize how I have turned out the way I am and that I have the power to change my own future and I hope by taking the initiative to control my anxiety that my actions could influence another to do the same. It may not seem like much, as I am just one person in this world- but if anything, Griffin’s project has revealed that it only takes the action of one individual to change the life of another. Works Cited Ferro, Catalina. "Catalina Ferro Performs ‘Anxiety Group’" YouTube. YouTube, 10 June 2012. Web. 30 Nov. 2013. "The Genetics of Alcoholism." National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Oct. 2003. Web. 06 Dec. 2013. Griffin, Susan. “Our Secret.” 1992. Ways of Reading: An Anthology for Writers. 9th ed. Ed. David Bartholomae and Anthony Petrosky. Bedford/St. Martin’s. Boston, 2011. 335-382. Print.

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