Oliver's young mind readily digested the material of fact, those indisputable fundamental principles void of human meddling and the confused passions of the lower sphere of the brain. But therein lies the problem for Oliver. His mind was digestive, not so much perceptive. Every piece of information he took in became true only when he digested it and moralized it. His perception was not weak though when he left it alone. In fact his perception, his senses, his memory, were all first rate – the problem resided in his heart. Even in as a man his heart would remain undeveloped. His early education was too one-sided, which was what Harriet thought best, and his lack of rounding out a full character would inevitably become his downfall.