Mr. Banks
Core: A
1/14/14
Argumentative Essay #2
Title
Yesterday, John walked into the bank and looked across the counter. In a bright, friendly voice,
the teller asked him, “How can I help you?” John took one look at the neon green Mohawk, the multiple
piercings, and the many tattoos, and turning around, walked out. John’s behavior is an example of
preconceived notions. John’s belief that the bank teller was not dressed appropriately for his profession
of being in charge of other people’s money, makes him not trust the teller. People, like John, can,
however, change their preconceived notions if they are open minded and willing to get to know others.
Through their open minds both Ponyboy and Johnny from The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton and Jackie
Robinson in his autobiography The Noble Experiment are all able to overcome the preconceived notions
put upon them by themselves as well as those put on them by society.
Ponyboy, who is a “greaser,” which is a name applied to a group of people who were considered
by society to be lower class, thinks that socs, who are the “the jet set, the west side rich kids” (Hinton,
2), have no problems because they have money and material possessions. When Ponyboy looks at his
own life and sees that if he and his family had more money, many of their problems would not exist, he
believes that the socs, who do have lots of money, must therefore, have no problems. Ponyboy, while
walking home from the drive-in with the two soc girls Cherry and Marcia, is confused when Cherry tells
him, “things are rough all-over” (Hinton, 35). Cherry believes that everyone has problems, but Ponyboy
listens to what she has to say and later thinks to himself, “Even if they did have their own troubles, I
really couldn’t see what socs would have to sweat about-good grades, good cars, good girls, madras and
Mustangs and Corvairs- and man I thought, if I had worries like that, I’d consider myself lucky” (Hinton,
36). He looks at their fancy cars, their nice clothes and, from his perspective, their easy life and cannot
see what problems a person with that much money could have. He is unable to see past their wealth
and see them as similar to him. It is not until Ponyboy has several other encounters with both Cherry
and another soc named Randy that he begins to realize that both groups are similar in that they have
problems that go beyond money. He beings to realize this when he notices that both Cherry and he
“see the same sunset” (Hinton, 41). By seeing this sunset, it is now becoming clear to Ponyboy that they
live in the same world and if the two groups live in the same world, they may have more things in
common than not. This idea is cemented for Ponyboy after he has a long, deep conversation with
Randy. It is after this conversation that Ponyboy realizes that Randy was “not a soc,” but he was in fact,
“just a guy” (Hinton, 118). This observation coupled with the Randy’s recounting of life as a soc makes
Ponyboy aware that, “Things were rough all over, but it was better that way. That way you could tell the
other guy was human too” (Hinton, 118). Ponyboy’s choice of the word “too” shows that he has
changed his point of view on socs. Where he once saw a person who must be a certain way because of
the group that they belonged to, he now sees a person who is, like him, an individual. He can now
appreciate the humanity of others and accept their differences while at the same time recognizing the
connection that all people, no matter their differences, share. It is not until Ponyboy gets to know the
people he has those preconceived notions about that he is able to overcome them, much in the same
way that Johnny is not to overcome his preconceived notions until he gets to know himself.
Preconceived notions can and do affect our interactions with others. Ponyboy was unable to
see the socs as “human” because he could not understand how their money did not alleviate their
problems. Similarly, Johnny had to get to know his true self before he could be satisfied with his life.
Jackie Robinson had to have personal experience with Branch Rickey before he would trust that a white
person did truly want to integrate America’s pastime. Each of these three people had to allow their
minds to open to the possibility that things are not what they thought they were. Isaac Asimov said
“Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light
won't come in.” If we allow our preconceived notions to control our behavior, we will be closed off to
the possibilities of the world around us. It is up to each of us to examine our assumptions, our
preconceived notions, and judge whether they have the value that we think they do.