It is difficult to establish a strong relationship with another individual, but once it is achieved, the bond is hard to break. For example, it is quite rare for someone to despise his or her friend after many years of joy. The short story Hearts and Hands by O. Henry is about a criminal and marshall who go on a train. The criminal meets his old friend, and in order to escape embarrassment, the two men switch roles. This story shows how established perceived notions don’t change, but weakened ones do.
A strong relationship is established through many years of being together. This relationship creates a notion of an individual. Many humans treat one’s peers differently depending on who they are. For example, one might not swear as much to a sensitive friend as someone who is literally a gangster. In the story, the criminal, Mr.Easton, meets his old friend, Ms. Fairchild, on the train. These two individuals have built a strong relationship in the past, so those perceived notions remain untouched. Most likely, Mr.Easton used to be a good man who never committed any crimes, so Ms. Fairchild concludes Mr.Easton is the marshall. Even if the men did not switch roles, Ms.Farichild would theoretically not belive her old friend has become a criminal due to her perceived notions. Once created, a strong relationship is almost impossible to break.
On the other hand, people who have not established a relationship yet might perceive Mr.Easton differently as that of Ms.Fairchild. At the end of the story, one of the passengers of the train stated Mr.Easton, the “marshall”, was handcuffing the “prisoner” on the wrong hand. In other words, the passenger knew Mr.Easton was the prisoner. Since the passenger only knew Mr.Easton for a few minutes, his notions were not established. This meant he had nothing to base Mr.Easton’s actions off, while Ms.Fairchild did. Fairchild concluded with the assumption that since Easton was a good man, he is still a good man. The passenger never knew Easton was a good man before, so he created his immediate notions based on his observations. In this case, he observed Easton was the criminal. Probably, Ms.Fairchild also noticed Mr.Easton was handcuffing the “prisoner” with his wrong hand but did not care much since her notions told her Easton could not have committed crimes.
The story shows how established notions almost never change. One who has a clear relationship with someone has a confirmed notion. On the other hand, someone without a strong relationship with another will have ever-changing notions. A Relationship is a powerful bond that is difficult to both create and destroy.