…the understanding of any person is an exercise in genealogy. A man is not a static organism to be taken apart and analyzed and classified. A man is movement, motion, a continuum. There is no beginning to him. He runs through his ancestors, and the only beginning is the primal beginning of the single cell in the slime. The proper study of mankind is man, but man is an endless curve on the eternal graph paper, and who can see the whole curve?
In this excerpt from "The Big Rock Candy Mountain," Wallace Stegner conveys that understanding a person involves tracing their lineage and evolutionary history. He emphasizes that individuals are dynamic, constantly evolving rather than being fixed entities. This view suggests that a person's essence cannot be fully captured by mere analysis or classification because they embody the cumulative experiences and traits of their ancestors.
Stegner further illustrates that there is no definitive starting point for an individual, as their existence extends back to the origins of life itself. He likens humanity to an endless curve on a graph, highlighting the complexity and interconnectedness of our experiences. Ultimately, the study of mankind reveals the intricate tapestry of personal histories, emphasizing the challenge of fully comprehending any one person's journey.