“Children are like wet cement. Whatever falls on them makes an impression.” Dr. Haim Ginott accurately sums up how children are products of their environment. Whether the cement becomes a sidewalk, or waste depends on what kind of impressions were made. In Margaret Laurence’s short story, “The Half Husky” Vanessa, a teenage girl witnesses abuse for the first time and realizes the way an abusive environment can dictate a boy like Harvey to become abusive. Laurence is conveying how a painful encounter with abuse can influence one to believe that an abusive environment prescribes the abusive nature of an individual.

Initially, a teenage girl referred to as Vanessa is portrayed to have a clear-cut hatred towards Harvey, an older boy who continuously …show more content…
The very appearance contrasted from Vanessa’s brick house with the green lawn and high fence. She described Harvey’s house to be worn out, “the rust corroded gate stood open and askew... tall uncut grass had formed.” The narrator describes to house to have an acrid sour smell, “pots of urine were overflowing.” Laurence expresses Harve’s abusive upbringing and environment evidently. For example, “his aunt with an explosive quickness that made [Vanessa] jerk in every nerve, snatched the wooden spoon and hit him across the face.” While Harvey did not flinch, Vanessa explains every nerve jerked just from watching it. Vanessa notices how in the household, not an atom of respect or trust was given for Harvey when the aunt “darts into where he was, like a giant darning needle” completely assuming Harvey was the one at fault with no evidence at all and makes a fool out of him, slapping him across the face in front of people. Internally, she has noticed the distinct difference between the way each of them were nurtured. These abusive, cruel circumstances Harvey was raised in appalled