Personality is what makes us human. Most people when asked, "What is a personality?" will respond that it refers to one's public image and the way people view that particular person. But personality goes deeper than those mediocre definitions. Personality encompasses our childhood and present, our motives and drives, our needs and experiences, it is social and is specifically human. Understanding someone's complex personality is a difficult task and in this essay I will try to unlock Dr. Norman Bethune to try and realize why he did what he did, what is his personality and who influenced Bethune to become the great man that he became. I will use a combination of the various personality theories and take the relevant outlooks which I believe make up Bethune as a person.
             In the Freudian tradition personality is linked with the past and significant events that effect an individual during certain stages of their life. Little is known about Bethune's childhood but what is known is significant. Henry Norman Bethune was born on March 3, 1890 in Gravenhurst, Ontario. He was the first son to parents Malcolm and Elizabeth. Malcolm's job (a minister) moved the family frequently to small towns throughout Ontario. Bethune's given name was Henry and at the tender age of eight he proudly and very seriously announced to his family that he was no longer to be called Henry but Norman, the name of his Grandfather. Then ceremoniously he hung the brass plate of his surgeon grandfather and namesake on his bedroom door. (Allen and Gordon, 11). Now what would cause a little boy at the age of eight to think of doing such a thing, let alone actually do it? As a young boy Norman often dissected different insects and small animals obviously fascinated by the surgeon aspect of it. So obviously he greatly respected his grandfather who perhaps influenced him not only to become a surgeon but also to be strong enough to d...