I. C.

Dahdpeepel
Ms. Tippens
9th Grade Literature
13 September 2016
The Gap between Perception and Perception
Many people view themselves in a negative way. They criticize themselves on
the inside, no matter what they say on the outside. Usually people like others and
think nicely of them. While people might respect another person, they seem to have
a difficult time respecting themselves. We can see examples of this in literature as
well as in real life. People and fictional characters often want society to perceive
them in a certain way. Sometimes they do not succeed, but instead, society
perceives them in an even better way. People (fictional and real) often view
themselves less positively than society views them.
One example from literature is the character, Danny, in Mexican Whiteboy.
Because the book is written in third person, we get to see what Danny thinks about
himself and also what others think about him. Danny spends a lot of time thinking
about how he could make himself seem tougher, more Mexican, more like his dad.
He made a pact with himself. No more words. When his dad spoke at all, he
mostly spoke Spanish, but Danny never learned (de la Pena 16). And later on,
when deciding whether or not to talk to his crush, he thinks, His dad would just go
talk to her (de la Pena 121). His attempts to always follow in his dads footsteps
shows that he is insecure because he does not know how to just act like himself. He
wants to be tough and act more Mexican, but he cannot seem to make others
perceive him that way.

In reality, Danny is much beloved by all of those around him. His best friend,
Uno, does not like Danny at first. He thinks, Some light-skinned Mexican skaterlooking kid . Whats up with this pretty boy? (de la Pena 11). Uno judges Danny
by the way he is dressed and decides he is weak and not cool, the opposite of how
Danny wants to be thought of. But while spending the summer together, Uno
changes his mind about Danny. Dannys a weird cat. Sitting there all quiet in his
Vans. His skater shirt. But hes all right. Hes Unos boy (de la Pena 209). Even by
the middle of their summer together, Uno still thinks Danny does not fit in, but he
accepts him and even likes that he is different. Danny tries to come off as tough
through being quiet. Instead, he comes off as weird but endearing. While this may
not be what Danny wanted, the fact that they are nice to him shows how they think
of him as a nice guy.
My life could also be used as an example. When I was 35, I decided to change
jobs. I had been working at the fire station for years; however, I felt that I needed to
develop my skills as a psychic. Still, I was afraid of what my former co-workers
would say. Would they laugh at me? Would they think I was embarrassing all
firefighters? I knew I had special abilities, but I thought, Why am I doing this? With
so many skeptics out there, am I not hurting other firefighters? When I finally went
back to the old station for the Christmas Party, I overheard some a former co-worker
saying, Yeah, its weird, but I think its really cool that hes opened his own
investigating service. It really shows how important it is to have multiple experts
investigate the same fire (Roberts). From this experience, I learned that most of my
co-workers thought positively of my new job. And while I didnt want to be thought
of as weird, I was glad that they still respected me.

There are numerous examples in life and in literature of people who perceive
themselves differently than society perceives them. Usually, society thinks of these
people more positively than they think of themselves. In fact, through literature and
movies we are able to see that everyone suffers from having negative thoughts
about themselves. Perhaps through reading stories like Mexican Whiteboy, we can
work to improve the way we think about ourselves and close the gap between who
we think we are and who others think we are.