Formation of Identity

Through the examination of Harvey’s life story, the story explores the ways in which a person’s identity can be formed both against and in accordance with the events and phenomena of their childhood. As Henry Steavens learns more about Harvey’s childhood, he is shocked to discover the ugliness and terror that defined that period in Harvey’s life. As an adult, Harvey became a creator of many beautiful works of art, but as a child, he lived in a rural home with ugly decor and a mother who was abusive towards him. Moreover, Harvey was a consistently kind person as an adult. Henry realizes that Harvey’s path in life was likely defined by a reaction against the adversity of his childhood: “All this raw, biting ugliness had been the portion of the man whose mind was to become an exhaustless...