Importance of image

Introduction

An individual’s perception and attitude to life is greatly influenced by the interactions and experiences that one has with other people in the community and society in general. Image is therefore important in society as it allows people to formulate an idea about someone or a place in order to determine how to interact with the individual. In ‘At the VA, healing the doctor patient relationship’ the author points out how image can affect the doctor patient relationship to a point where it negatively affects the quality of care provided. Macmillan Cottom adds on to this notion in his work ‘the logic of stupid poor people’ by discussing the importance of image on first impressions especially during interviews. A similar argument is presented by Larry Lehna as he narrates his experiences in prison in ‘The Look’. From the three stories, it is evident that image is an important aspect in society as it influences how people interact with one another and the perceptions they make concerning the environment they live in and the events that transpire therein.

The theme of image is present in Kheirbek’s story as it discusses how the perceptions a patient has regarding a country and its people affect doctor patient relationships. A good example is the case where the physician tries to find common ground with a soldier so as to offer assistance. At first, the relationship is tense because the soldier has a negative image about the land where doctor comes from (Kheiberk 206). The image is as a result of the perception formulated by the patient regarding people from the Middle East as they remind him of his experiences in combat.  He considers people from such regions as backward and uncivilized. To him, Americans were wealthy enough to treat used parachutes as trash while the locals saw them as valuable commodities as they could make tents as they lacked the means to afford proper housing. It was not until the physician helped the patient to see that his image of the locals does not account for all locals that the two are able to interact and come to terms on how to go about improving the patient doctor relationship.

Image is important as it helps to denote the predisposition and character of a person, to some extent, on occasions that require people to judge a person’s character but with limited access to information regarding the person. This is evident in Cottom’s recollection of how image has influenced her career life. While in college, Cottom narrates how a manager had formulated the opinion that she (Cottom) was okay because her car was always clean (Cottom 978). Since the manager did not know Cottom well, his perception about the type of person Cottom is was based off of the image he had formulate about Cottom based on the appearance of her car. Another example is when Cottom had gone to an interview for a call center position but was hired as a trainer because her dressing was considered to classy for the position she had applied for (Cottom 979). Although most jobs hire on the basis of academic qualifications, image is used as a differentiating factor in some cases as was evident in Cottom’s experiences.

In Larry Lehna’s ‘The Look’, image is described as the major factor that determines the type of experience that prisoners have while serving their prison sentence. When Lehna was sent to prison, he spent the first days trying to perfect an expression that would trick others into thinking he was dangerous. When he perfected the look, Lehna attests that some prisoners kept their distance from him out of fear while others portrayed respect and wariness (Lehna 225). Since most inmates did not know Lehma on a personal level, their actions towards him after he had mastered the look give enough evidence to support the claim that image can positively or negatively affect people’s perception of one another and the community they live in.

Lehna’s experiences however denote that image can also be misinterpreted and people can develop wrong perceptions of others and events occurring around them. After spending a significant amount of time in prison, Lehna had gotten so used to the look from other prisoners that he stopped trusting people (Lehna 226). After he was released from prison however, he still retained the image he had formulated about people and their deceptions. Lehna’s image of people was however altered by Noreen Rhues as her character and predisposition was the exact opposite of the inmates Lehna interacted with while in prison.

Conclusion

The success of any community is determined by people’s willingness to set aside differences and peacefully coexist despite the existence of these differences. Since it is impossible to know every detail about society and the people in it, it is a common approach for people to rely on constructs in society such as image to try and reach a common ground. Image is therefore important as it determines the nature of relationships that people build with one another. Although these perceptions can be altered, some images form stereotypes that govern society and the people in it.

 

 

 

References

Kheirbek “At the VA, healing the doctor patient relationship”

Lehna “The Look”

Tressie McMillan Cottom “The logic of stupid poor people”