Immediately upon reading The Winner, the main theme present was the perception of others. Pius Ndawula, the protagonist began his journey by winning a large football pool. Due to Pius’s actions and the result of his winnings, people from all corners of the kingdom drew to him like a magnet to metal. Not only did this include close relatives but people whose existence had been absent throughout his life. By further breaking down this opening paragraph, the theme was clearly evident.
The perception of others can arise and cause a negative view of others. This can be broken down into three main topics as well as subdivided into minor categories. There are three categories that are evident. One being the perception of rich and poor and the other is the virtual reality of the materialistic items they wear. Perception of the rich can be divided into subcategories such as jealousy, rise of users and raised expectations. On the flip side, there is the perception of the poor which includes lack respect, sympathy and cruelty. I will also discuss how people perceive to be rich or poor through their clothing styles and lifestyle choices but in reality are the opposite of the persona they give off.
Since, pictures are worth a thousand words; my visual essay will be a story book itself, with detailed meaning. I will begin my visual essay with pictures of different individuals and will be asked for form an opinion of them. Through this visualization, the students will use past experiences and their own knowledge to form an opinion on these individuals (connecting to the presentation). In addition, I will show similar images but in fact show how these images form a virtual reality and are the opposite of the persona they are trying to achieve.
From childhood our source of learning and education primarily is from our family and school. We are taught different values and views. This also allows us to be influenced by the people around us, importing all their personal values and priorities. These include traits such as sharing, caring, love and our work ethic. This in turn leads us to believe that those who work hard get further in life and are able to live a better lifestyle. As we get older, we begin to take more of an interest in outside media sources such as television, newspapers and magazines. These outside sources influence our views as well. These various advertisements and what we view make us perceive certain items to be more valuable than others, such as Rolex vs. Timex. This in turn has had an impact on how our generation is greatly influenced by items from a young age. This is the ongoing drive for many to strive for material success and have people view us in that well to do light.
People are often classified under two main categories, the rich and the poor. Both are completely different of one another. When looking at the pictures to come what opinion do you conclude? People often perceive that rich people must always have the nicest cars such as BMW’s, Mercedes, etc and very large homes. But along with all these perceptions comes along with a negative perception. Rich people are often said to have the finer things but can be unhappy due to the stresses that come along with it. This can be due to three major contributors. Rich people often face challenges which include users, raised expectations and jealousy. When viewing a person that we precise to have a lot of money each of these factors are present. Users? The most common form of a user that we all have heard of is “gold diggers”. For those of you who are unaware, these are commonly women who marry men for their money. A commonly found example of this in the media is Donald Trump. Donald Trump is a 65 year old billionaire married to a young European model. Some may say they married for love and some may say she married for money. These types of situations are brought to our attention through media sources and impact our views and judgements. Another expectation that may arise when someone is perceived to have money is they may be held accountable to pay for dinners, admissions into places or to host events. Many people also harbour bad feelings like jealousy towards those with money. They may feel they don’t deserve to have all they do which can cause resentment.
In conclusion, all these perceptions and expectations that are bred within us when we view those with money also cause them to fulfill those expectations.
After viewing both categories we are able to see that not everyone is what they are perceived to be. In most cases when viewing the pictures you are forming an unreality of these people. In fact, due to these expectations and perceptions, many people try to cause a perception of having more than they do. Many people buy name brands, may lease nice cars and spend money to give off a rich perception but in reality may be drowning in debt. In turn, the opposite is true. There are many people living in small homes, drive old cars and live a very simple life but have a lot of money. Why does this happen? It doesn’t matter the money you have or do not have, but the type of person you are. Some are happy with their lives and don’t have to impress others and like saving their money while others may be insecure and materialistic and must show society that they deserve respect so they give off the illusion of having money. This all depends on what a person value is in life. Some people strive for materialistic things while others strive for things that are beyond money – things that money can’t buy. Therefore we can come to the conclusion that what we perceive to be a reality is not always true and we shouldn’t allow it to change our views or instincts about someone.