Genealogy of Characters

It is no secret that parenting and upbringing and the context in which we grow up has a lot to do with our character. The people to whom we look up to in our childhood are probably one of the most influential people in our lives. They, and especially the parents, shape the character to a big degree.
Of course free will does not cease to exist because of this, but habits and thought patterns learned young are harder to unlearn old. 
This may be partly seen in the genealogies of Genesis.
Already in Genesis 4 we see polygamy and a murderous spirit coming from the line of Cain in Laban while we see a righteous Enoch from the line of Seth in Genesis 5.
But in Genesis 10 we see more of this.
Ham was a rather wicked man who shamed his own father. It is from his line that we see the first recorded empire-building Nimrod. Canaan, the son of Ham, was cursed by Noah for what Ham had done. He would be a servant of servants.
This was not really about genes, but also about character. The descendants of Canaan would inherit many of the character defects from their parents. Sodom and Gomorrah were part of this group. 

[Gen 10:15, 19 NKJV] 15 Canaan begot Sidon his firstborn, and Heth; ... 19 And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon as you go toward Gerar, as far as Gaza; then as you go toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.

But besides these 2 notable cities we of course know how corrupt the Canaanites were in the time of Moses and even before that. 

But Abraham came from the line of Shem, the son who was blessed by Noah for covering his nakedness:

[Gen 11:10, 26 NKJV] 10 This [is] the genealogy of Shem: Shem [was] one hundred years old, and begot Arphaxad two years after the flood. … [genealogy of Shem till Terah] 26 Now Terah lived seventy years, and begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

And it was from Abraham Israel came. Abraham was called a man who walked before the Lord.

Now this genealogy of character was not fixed. The wicked Moabites and Ammonites were from the line of Seth too through Lot.

Israel itself turned wicked once.

And among the Canaanites we see some pretty honorable people in the time of Abraham like Abimelech. 

But generally speaking parenting and upbringing has an immense influence on how the life of that person will proceed. The genealogies make it all too clear and it can have an effect for quite some generations.

This should put a high sense of responsibility in the parent.
The character and mind of a human being is in this way much influenced by the ancestors.