Heritage: Face Paint but Nothing Else

Heritage is said to be one of the biggest characterizations of people. People are classified according to where they come from. It is said to even classify you as an individual person. I however, disagree. Every human is different, no two humans are the same. Just because you came from a similar background or ethnicity, does not make you the same as another person. Each individual is unique and has a different personality and emotions. For example, in The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls, Jeanette and her siblings grew up in destitute dealing with an alcoholic father and a bipolar mother. Even though Jeanette and her siblings grew up in the same situation as her parents, that did not identify them as people. They were different from their parents; they wanted to escape poverty and be successful in life. Another example from literature would be in Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare. Both Romeo and Juliet come from sparring families who should hate each other, however, they soon fall in love even though their heritage forbids it. Their heritage did not determine who they were as humans because it is little more than a name or a background. Instead of looking at the last name of a person or their family history, it is better to look at their heart and their personality because in reality, heritage means nothing.