Mason Verger knows a great deal about breeding. As the inheritor of a vast fortune and the privilege that this attends, he has also inherited his father's interest in breeding pigs. As such, he knows how to select for certain behaviors in one generation so that they manifest in the next. The privileged, spoiled, rich young man breeds a group of pigs especially for the purpose of his revenge, turning his father's fascination into a weapon against his enemies. Margot Verger, raised in a similar environment with similar genetics, does not exhibit the same inherited behaviors. Rather, all she inherits is trauma at the hands of her brother and father. She does not believe that she is defined by her family, though, ironically, she is forced to acquire her brother's sperm to produce a Verger child for the purposes of financial inheritance. Margot and Mason wrestle with their inheritance, behavior, and wealth, which determines their actions into adulthood, often recreating trauma from the past.

Pazzi and Starling share a similar relationship to generational trauma. They are both law enforcement officers who come to take a conflicting attitude toward institutions, as determined by their ancestry.