Spock & Kirk: Different Births = Different Personalities

[Sanae]

I hope this hasn't been discussed by another thread already but I was just thinking about just how different Spock's and Kirk's births were:

Spock's was in a quiet, controlled environment, with calming music and the best possible care. Also, being raised as a Vulcan resulted in him having supreme control over his emotions (well, most of the time....)

Kirk's birth was in the middle of a battle, in a flying shuttle and with everyone being anything but calm. His mother's emotions (which I fully understand) while he was being born were also extremely negative for him. Considering what we know about how these kind of things affect newborns, it was almost guaranteed that Kirk would be a troubled kid.

What I'd like to know is, does any of you think that their different births could have been a factor in terms of defining their personalities?

 

[KimMH]

yes, but not as much as the next 25 - 30 years or so. Spok had the love and support of both parents and Kirk lacked his father. Growing up without either parent is always damaging to humans. This makes the job of the remaining parent all that more heroic.

 

[FarDreaming]

Hopefully, we will get to see Spock's birth scene in the DVD release. Though I understand pacing, I think it would have given us that point of view that was missed when they cut the scene. And IMHO, it would have added to the poignancy of Amanda's death.

 

[Captrek]

yes, but not as much as the next 25 - 30 years or so. Spok had the love and support of both parents and Kirk lacked his father. Growing up without either parent is always damaging to humans. This makes the job of the remaining parent all that more heroic.

I don’t think the problem was a lack of a father figure so much as having a father figure for whom he had no respect. The incident with the Corvette told us how young Jim Kirk felt about the man who was supposed to be raising him.

 

[Sanae]

Also, not only Jim lacked a proper father figure but from what I gathered from the novelization, Jim's mother wasn't home often and when she was, she seemed oblivious to what was going on in her own household. I found this to be quite odd, considering how much Jim ought to mean to her....or maybe looking at him was painful since he looked so much like his father.

At any rate, I think that with the kind of childhood Jim had, it's nothing short of a miracle that he became a decent, friendly and overall nice guy. I also think that Spock's adult personality is more coherent with the constant taunting he had to endure while growing up.

 

[Nova Mist]

I had a pretty dramatic, traumatic birth myself, but I'm not sure as to whether that had lasting effects. The fact that I had both my parents providing me with love and support no doubt helped.

In regards to Kirk, it's interesting that even though Kirk Prime no doubt had a fairly calm birth and two loving, supportive parents, he actually went chaing adventure and danger in Starfleet even earlier than the new timeline's Kirk did.

But considering Kirk's upbringing, it is amazing he turned out as well as he did. That overall goodness of heart and nature showing through, I guess.

 

[kythe]

We don't really know what Kirk Prime's birth was like, only that it was likely different from what we saw in the movie.

I wouldn't say Spock's birth was perfect in comparison, at least based on STV (I never thought I would be referencing that movie since I don't normally acknowledge it's existence ). I think the point of that scene though, was to illustrate that Spock felt rejected from birth. His birth itself did not traumatize him, it was his perception that he had been rejected by his father from the time of his birth. This may not have been true, but it was what he believed and it defined his relationship with his father.