N-A-T-H-A-N-I-E-L and the Sidewalk

The Soloist tells the story of an African American prodigy named Nathaniel Ayers who lives in the streets of L.A, haunted with mental illness Nathaniel moved out to escape the pressures of Julliard and perfection. N-A-T-H-A-N-I-E-L he says whenever he introduces himself, as if he needed a remainder of who he is. Sidewalk has reached a point where Duneier has begun to discuss the “’dangerous, violent, and aggressive’ image of African-American men on the streets of New York City” (page 120). As I watched the aforementioned movie over thanksgiving break, I couldn’t help but wonder if there are many Nathaniels out there, geniuses undercover, kept on the streets because of their fears, pasts, and even mental sickness. The parallels between the vendors Duneier talks about in Sidewalk and Nathaniel in The Soloist are too big not to notice, even though the stories occurred in opposite sides of the United States and the characters have completely different trials and issues.

In The Soloist, Nathaniel Ayers is pushed towards life on the streets because of mental illness. In Sidewalk the vendors are pushed to this same situation by drug problems, lack of education, and time in prison. In both of the stories the characters grew up in violent areas, prone to crime and racial segregation. The vendors because of their minority status in a middle class town meant mostly for whites and Nathaniel because of the prominent majority of white students in Julliards. In Nathaniel’s case, this obvious difference between him and his schoolmates triggers schizophrenia, in the vendor’s case segregation triggers the “Fuck it mentality” that was discussed in previous chapters.

“More than half of the men who have lived on the street come from homes that conventional readers would call respectable” (page 122), similarly, Nathaniel’s mom owned a hair salon and his sister has a job and a house when Robert Downy Jr.’s character manages to contact her. Either way, they ended up on the sidewalk. Why? Nathaniel claims he likes to hear Los Angeles because there is nothing inside. Many of the vendors Duneier describes in Sidewalk chose to live on the street because they saw it coming anyway. Granted, Nathaniel lives in a completely different context due to his mental health (or lack thereof), but the similarities remain there. Furthermore, the two stories prove a point Duneier makes when he describes the situation of African American males in the sidewalk: “individual factors also have an influence” (page 122) on who ends up living on the streets.

The most striking similarity between The Soloist and Sidewalk is not the African Americans but the white men telling the story. For starters they both have designated names the black men assign to them: Mitch for Mitchel

l Duneier and Mr. Lopez for Steve Lopez (Robert Downy Jr.). Even though both white men treat the African Americans with respect and come to know them as people more than simple studies (or in Mr. Lopez’s case: columns), the relationship began with work in mind, not understanding. Will “Mitch” become as attached to the vendors of the Village as Mr. Lopez ended up with Mr. Ayers? (If you watch the movie you will understand why the switch from Nathaniel to Mr. Ayers has direct relationship to the moment of attachment, when understanding finally comes). Will Duneier help his characters as much as Mr. Lopez helped Mr. Ayers?

I guess that information shall come in Part 3.