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The Soloist Essay

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The Soloist Essay
The Soloist

The story of the Soloist is a true-life story base on the life of Nathaniel Jonathan Ayers, a former cello prodigy whose bouts with schizophrenia landed him on the streets after two years of schooling at Juilliard. The character, which is played by Academy Award winner Jamie Fox, lives on the streets of Los Angles by day and sleep in the park at the foot of the statue of Beethoven by night. While attending Julliard, the school of music, he discovered that sometimes he felt out of control, felt like his mind would turn on him. He then started to hear voices that instruct him to run and hide. The voices in his head were so strong and over whelming that it caused him to leave Julliard. He tried telling family members about the voices but felt too ashamed to admit that he needed help. As a result of the undiagnosed schizophrenia, he became homeless but he still remained committed to playing his music with half broken instruments while living on the streets. He was discovered by a news reporter named Steven Lopez, played by Robert Downey Jr. Mr. Lopez was wandering through Los Angeles’ Skid row in search of a good story to write for his weekly column when he notices a bewildered figure playing a two stringed violin. So he took the opportunity to ask the homeless person, Mr. Ayers, to tell him his story. The more Mr. Lopez learned about Ayers, the greater his respect grows for his troubled soul. He wondered why a man with such remarkable talent could end up living on the streets, and not be performing on-stage with a symphony orchestra. Mr. Ayers’s mental condition did occasionally allow him to sometime think rationally and coherently but on other occasions he appeared erratic and paranoid not making sense of anything that he said or did. The character in this story, a person with a mentally disorder, was accurately portrayed by Jamie Fox. The character displayed all the characteristics of a person suffering with Schizophrenia.

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