"The Soloist"/Homelessness
Abstract
The soloist is a book written by Steve Lopez which focuses on two men living in Los Angeles, California. It talks about the interaction between these two men. Nathaniel Ayers is a character in the book who at his young age schooled in Julliard. Nathaniel did not get the opportunity to finish his education due to the competition and a lot of pressure that existed in Julliard. He began performing poorly in his studies (Lopez 2008). Despite him getting bad grades he was still recognized by many due to his outstanding talent. Nathaniel is depicted as to be experiencing some problems due to the fact he is not able to focus and live an orderly life.
Nathaniel lacks mental stability and for this reason he is forced to stop schooling ending up to live in the streets. He settles in Los Angeles due to a statue of Beethoven found in a park in this city. Nathaniel now that he lives in the streets he moves around the city and often plays his old violin in a tunnel nearby (Lopez 2008). A time comes when Steve Lopez meets up with Nathaniel where Nathaniel succeeds to convince him and Lopez being a journalist for the Los Angeles times he decides to shift focus to Nathaniel in his next article (Lopez2008). A bond is created between the two and Lopez goes further to interviewing Nathaniel wanting to know about his life. Eventually Lopez learns about Nathaniel’s background and how he attended Julliard being an outstanding musician. Lopez takes the initiative to publish articles about Nathaniel which people are able to access and know more about his life.
Later on Lopez is amazed as he did not expect the reaction that is seen as to come from him publishing articles about Nathaniel. The people who have the articles are seen to want to know more the life of Nathaniel. People are seen to sending musical instruments to Nathaniel so that he may play them. Before, Nathaniel is presented with a very old violin due to the fact that he does not have money to buy a new one much less money to buy strings for the violin (Lopez 2008). He gets so lucky and receives new bass and new violins, instruments which he longed to have in his life after he left Julliard.
Having all this Nathaniel is not able to move around with his instruments in the streets due to the fear of being mugged and the instruments stolen form him especially when he is asleep. In order to find safety for the instruments Lopez and Nathaniel agrees to be storing at a local facility which handles people with special needs. Where Nathaniel can go play them and get assistance where possible. Lopez realizes that Nathaniel has some mental problems and that he is quite insecure (Lopez 2008). He sees an opportunity of Nathaniel getting help about his condition if only he spends time to play his violins at the facility.
As much as there are efforts to ensure that Nathaniel gets well this becomes difficult since Nathaniel is a stubborn person and has no trust for anyone. He sees that he does not need any help and therefore resorts to continue to live on the street and plays his violin in the tunnel as usual (Lopez 2008). Nathaniel is seen to continue visiting the facility often and he ends up becoming secure and starts living in his own apartment. Lopez then communicates with Nathaniel’s relatives and old friends when he then plans a visitation in his apartment located in Skid Row area in los angels.
The relationship between Nathaniel and Lopez is met with a lot stresses and mental breakdowns. Despite this being the case the two are able to learn on how they can best understand and trust each other which is quite an unexpected happening. Lopez is able to understand that Nathaniel has some special needs and the fact that this situation cannot be changed overnight. On the other hand Nathaniel learns that people can be trusted. Both of them are seen to understand that music forms an integral part of Nathaniel’s life and that he is an outstanding musician.
As the story nears to the end Nathaniel is seen to have gotten a friend who he trust and in turn become familiarized with some of his old friends who are musicians by profession. He has an apartment where he lives safely and without any insecurity. Lopez has secured a space where Nathaniel can go and play music as well as teach others on how to play. The music is even named after Nathaniel.
The concept of homelessness has been demonstrated in the book which is quite prevalent in the society. There are various factors that have contributed to the existence of this situation. As seen in the book mental illness causes an individual to become homeless due to the fact that the individual is not able to think in a straight forward manner. Low wages is seen to make a lot of housing not affordable by many workers and therefore they resort to living in the streets. (Kleinig and John 2004). Joblessness is another factor which asserts that no income, no rent and therefore no place to stay. Domestic violence, divorce, natural disasters are other contributor to homelessness (Kleinig and John 2004).
Homelessness depicts a state of poverty. From a theoretical point view the story can be related to the functionalist theory. This theory affirms that within any given society poverty is an inevitable aspect. This theory justifies the existence of poverty whereby there is no any given time in the society when a balance can exist among all individuals. It emphasizes that poor people have a role to play in the society contrary to the roles played by the rich people. Therefore they are of great essence in order to carry out petty tasks in the society.
Also the conflict theory has been seen to relate with the story in that within any given there has to be two groups of people the haves and the have-not. This theory strongly stresses on the aspect of inequality drawing much attention to the concept of differences in regards to power. It demonstrates the understanding of the halves continuing to rise in their status high above the have- nots under the expense of the have-nots. This is also a contributing factor to homelessness.
Conclusion
Generally this book is quite interesting and entertaining. The story demonstrates that even if a person has some special needs they can still be respected through being encouraged and being provided for support in their ventures. It provides an understanding of what true friendship between people is all about laying its foundation on trust. It also shows how hope can be given to people who might be living in despair by not giving up on them.
Reference
Lopez S. (2008).The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music Putnam Adult;
Kleinig and John (2004). "Policing the Homeless: an ethical dilemma". Journal of Social Distress and the Homeless.
