After reading chapters 7 through 12, my opinion on the book has shifted a bit. The story has gotten more interesting as the relationship between Lopez and Ayers gets deeper. As Lopez spent his night with Ayers, he saw how hard it was to survive on the streets of Skid Row. He didn't understand why Ayers preferred to live and sleep on the streets instead of a nice room in the Lamp. As the night carried on, Lopez realized that it takes a lot of skills to live and survive on the streets on Skid Row. By spending time with Ayers and seeing how part of his life was on the streets, Lopez became closer and more connected with him.
The pressure of being a student at Juilliard was worse than I thought it would be. Some students would even use drugs and smoke in the stairways during school hours. One male student even went further than abusing drugs. The young male, Rabin, committed suicide because of the pressure of being at Juilliard. This reminded me of the student who committed suicide in The Catcher In The Rye. James Castle committed suicide by jumping out his dorm window because he didn't want to give in to the peer pressure of others. Rabin and Castle both died because of a type of pressure on them; one was from the school while the other was from wanting to not be like his peers.
Throughout these chapters, Lopez has a hard time trying to find the right treatment for Ayers. Some doctors said that medication was the right path for treating mental illness but one doctor, Dr. Mark Ragins, believed that doctors should focus on the patients' lives instead of just treating their illness. The discussion about treatment was also brought up in class. Carol mentioned that if a patient doesn't want to get treatment and receives it forcefully, it won't help him/her at all. On the other hand, if the patient is willing to receive treatment, it will be helpful. I agree with her statements because if people enjoy the way they are, they shouldn't be forced to change it because it won't help them anyway.
In chapter 12, Beethoven seems to be the main idea going on in Ayers's mind. He loves Beethoven and every piece of music that he has created. At Disney Hall, Ayers mentions that being there is like a dream come true. He was simply amazed by the orchestra, Eroica, that played Beethoven's Third Symphony. It was nice to read that he finally had the chance to visit Disney Hall and hear a wonderful orchestra play a Beethoven piece, who is practically like a god to Ayers.
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2 comments:
The thing that got me hooked on your blog was your first sentence. This is becasue overall my views changed to due to the relationship becasue of the characters. I like how you remembered such small details of our previous book in order to back a very vald connection. =]
As a follow-up to my comment on your first Soloist post, I wanted you to describe with a bit more detail this change in interest that you experienced as a reader. Also, I was interested in your discussion of the pressures that students at Juilliard faced and the comparison you draw between Lopez's book and Salinger's. I think you might have taken this examination a bit further rather than shifting to a separate topic for the rest of your post.
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