A Beautiful Mind

Vacation Engagement
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a) Character sketch of John Forbes Nash:

John Nash according to me was a bright and curious young man, who had an iron will
and high morals as well. This can be seen from the opening scene where it is shown
that he despised the lack of originality of his fellowmen.Under the pressure of the
Princeton university for publishing Although one thing does strike me as to how he
feels that the world would forget him if he does not get any recognition, even having a
semblance of a panic attack at the very thought. The notion that nobody would
recognise him scares him, until his roommate brings him out of this reverie. This to me
seems to hint at the whirlwind within him, his Schizophrenia in the mid years perhaps.

Of course one must not forget that the movie embellished a lot of things. And yet John
Nash as we proceed, shows himself to be an arrogant but natural code breaker. As it is,
his genius gets him into government confidential works which later brings about the
paranoia. He suspects that everyone around him is a soviet, planning to kill him.

The twist came so suddenly that I had not expected it, perhaps that is why they kept it
like that in the movie. Perhaps to make the viewers feel how real the delusions seemed
to Nash, how the paranoia and the feeling of being watched were all real to him, even
when to others he was not behaving right. Also, the frustration of medicines and
insulin shock therapy being used for treatment does seem to bind a person, which was
not agreeable to Nash as it took away his identity. He of course being Nash, an iron
willed individual got better simply himself but the hallucinations remained. It shows
that he was able to get better, ignore them but couldn’t really get rid of them, as is with
our inner demons.

b) What were the symptoms found in the character?

As discussed above the symptoms ranged from delusions so real that a man as rational
as Nash could not identify them until much later. Also depicted were his paranoia
which was perfectly reasoned inside his mind but was strange and frightening to his
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wife and colleagues. Perhaps even more significant was the constant feeling of being
watched, a common symptom of paranoid schizophrenia. Inevitably it shows how Nash,
even without trying, hurt both his wife and child, which is not a fault of his but because
of the hallucinations it gets hard to determine which is real and which not.

c) Reflect on the relationship the protagonist shares with the other characters in the
movie.

John Nash despite being what he calls himself as ‘Direct and not really socially
agreeable’ had managed to scrounge together a close set of friends and a strong woman
he calls his wife. It starts with a particularly rambunctious roommate Charles Herman,
with whom he forms a friendship of mischief and support. He also gets a rival in the
form of Martin Hansen, who later becomes an almost friend. He finds Sol and Bender
too, with whom he has a work life relationship. With his wife he finds himself
understood and finally gains the support and love that he had been looking for.

d) What was your favourite part of the movie

My favourite part was the last scene where Nash glances at Parcher and yet goes on
with his life, knowing that they are but hallucinations. He chooses to ignore them,
though they were not really gone. And yet at the same time he acknowledges them,
perhaps because he understood that schizophrenia wouldn’t leave him but he had
learned to live with it. That scene holds true for every individual suffering with any
mental disorder, it may get better but it will always be there. The thought is that just
like Nash you learn to live with it and be more than the mental disorder itself, afterall it
does not define you.

e) Three learning’s from the movie:

● I learned that anyone can suffer from a mental disorder and it certainly doesn’t
have to develop only after a trauma. Also the fact that time acts as a layer on
your problems until it manifests out of control, which I think was the case with
Nash as I have written in his character sketch.
● Also the fact that time does not heal all wounds is something to take from. Time
may make the edges less sharp but it never does go away completely. And yet we
learn to move forward.
● What I especially loved was the fact that everything is not black and white.
What you believe to be the truth may just be a lie for somebody else, this
thought was handled beautifully by the hallucinations of Nash. Even small
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nuances that there exists no true rival, and no true hero, but just yourself. If you
can win against yourself then the world is a cupcake. As a saying goes, ‘You
yourself are your worst enemy and your best friend’.