Differences Between Steve Lopez And Nathaniel Ayers

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An Unlikely Friendship The friendship between Steve Lopez and Nathaniel Ayers is not one of convention. Neither have much in common, in fact, they are quite opposites. They come from different backgrounds, are of different races, and different financial groupings. One maintains a promising career as a newspaper writer, while juggling a family, the other is homeless and Schizophrenic. One is overwhelmed trying to find balance in his daily life, the other escapes his world through his music. Their friendship seems to be a trade of sort. What one person lacks, the other seems to make up for. Though at times their friendship can be trying, if not close to impossible, it is evident that the mere presence of the other person has been life altering. When Steve befriends Nathaniel a certain level of curiosity and hesitance is present. Though Steve is enthralled with Nathaniel’s story of immense talent and great loss, he is also wary of Nathaniel’s unpredictable behavior, delusion, and manic rants. Nathaniel immediately connects to Steve though. Even in the haze of his Schizophrenic mind he remembers where Steve works and moves his cart so that he can see the LA Times building. He also gets use to Steve being around and a certain level of trust builds.…show more content…
Steve begins a crusade to try to change Nathaniel. His lack of knowledge in the mental health field and quick assumption that he can “fix” Nathaniel lead him to a realization, Nathaniel cannot be fixed. “Making a diagnosis isn’t as important as making a connection,” Dr Ragins tells Steve. (57) By forcing Nathaniel into treatment and onto medication, he is only doing what those that hurt Nathaniel before have done. All Steve can do is maintain the trust Nathaniel has in him and simply, but most importantly, be his

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