Can a Person Actually Change?

                In the recent episodes of “The Walking Dead,” the antagonist of season 3, the governor, has finally returned in season 4. We see him going through his journey after his safe-haven, Woodbury, had been overthrown and he had been exposed as a manipulative and cruel leader. The governor now goes through the sullied and lonely life he has brought upon himself.

                The governor seems to be broken shell of his former self. The ambitious and deceptive man has become an accepting and submissive person. He walks along the road until he finds a family which shows him love and aid. Almost any time this happens in a show, we can see a significant change in a person.

                The question then comes about; can someone’s nature actually change? Can the governor actually become a caring person, bent on helping? Is there actually such a thing as “a life changing event?”

                This is a topic that, in essence, is actually heavily debated in the field of psychology. The question is what makes a person who they are? Are someone’s actions and thoughts based on the compilation of the many events in life? Or is someone given a nature at birth? Does nature itself assign psyche or is it determined by how we grow and are nurtured. This is a debate popularly known as nature vs. nurture.

                There’s no true way to answer this question. The “nature” variable is too unpredictable and modern technology cannot determine if a baby is born with a certain nature. However, there is plenty of evidence to support that people are born with a specific nature.

On the other hand, there is also no true way to determine whether the events in a person’s life are the only thing to decide a person’s psyche. Therefore, it’s commonly accepted that both nature and nurture determine a person’s actions.

If the world’s best psychologists cannot determine this, I certainly don’t expect to attempt it. However, there’s something that I do know a little better than psychologists, and that’s how “The Walking Dead” writers have acted in the past. When a character has been portrayed as “evil” in previous episodes of this show, nothing seems to be able to change their disposition. Take Shane, for example. As soon as the character Shane wanted something, nothing could deter him from his motive. Thus, he died a “bad” person.

In general, I believe that characters on shows can change. Now the final question, do I believe that the governor has changed? I don’t think he has changed. I think he is still bent on taking down Rick and the main group. However, I think he has a different motive for what he wants, and will go about taking what he wants in a different way. Ultimately, my prediction for the show is that he will still be the antagonist.