Is What You See Always What You Get?

Trust is often a concept that we only take time to consider after it has been betrayed. Humans tend to attribute trust with power and responsibility, as opposed to individual character and personal nature. Outward appearances and personal reputations often offer the most insight as to who is trusted and who is not in the broad picture of society.

Power comes into the picture with trust when, in actuality, the two often times conflict one another. For example, members of a nation place the most trust in their leaders because they trust them to run the country for the betterment of the people. However, there have been so many instances in the past where politicians have deceived the public for their own personal gain. They use manipulation to win the trust of the people, but secretly have their own selfish motives. It becomes hard to know who to trust in society and in life in general. It is easier for us to take on the viewpoints of others in regards to trusting an individual, than it is to take the time to form our own opinions about them.

Othello is a perfect example of the fault in associating trust and honesty with power and responsibility. Iago is the most vindictive character. He allows jealousy to overcome him, and uses manipulation to bring down those around him that were closest to him. Because Iago is a respected man in the society as a whole, the characters trust his word without hesitation. With power comes the ability and opportunity to deceive, and Iago takes advantage of this fact. Although he is evil on the inside, the act that he portrays to those around him is enough to get them to trust him in every sense. They begin to see things that are not true in actuality. For example, Iago is able to use his reputation to trick Othello into believed that Desdemona was unfaithful to him.

With instances of broken trust that lead to destruction, it becomes hard for us to know who to trust and when. The idea of trust is a difficult one to grasp, because every time it is betrayed, we become more and more hesitant to trust someone in the future. We tend to confuse those worthy of our trust from those unworthy because manipulation can often appear in the form of sincerity, as the character of Iago demonstrates.

The best thing that we can do is to learn to trust people for ourselves, and not base it on what others tell us or what society as a whole convinces us to believe. Acknowledging the fact that deception is prevalent within the world should cause us to open our minds and to trust people for reasons that go beyond power and responsibility.