Nasar's account of Nash's life also shows the many other social problems he faced on account of his condition. In the article "Drama in four acts: 'Beautiful Mind' author follows tragedy," Rosemary Herbert compares the film and the book and notes that the films offers a cleaned up version of Nash's life. In contrast, the book tells the true story. Nasar (16) provides a summary of Nash's real life issues saying that,

He told Goodman that he thought Alicia would make a fine wife. Why? Because she watched so much television. That meant, he felt, that she wouldn't require much attention from him.

This analysis of A Beautiful Mind: The Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobel Laureate John Nash shows that Sylvia Nash presents the real story of schizophrenia. She illustrates that schizophrenia is not something that allows Nash to achieve greatness, to build a healthy relationship, to gain social acceptance, or to achieve the ultimate in career success by winning the Nobel prize. The real story presented by Nasar shows that Nash only achieves greatness because of what he does when he is not suffering from schizophrenia. At the same time, he does not achieve social acceptance and is not part of a healthy relationship. This shows that Nash's story and Nash's struggle from schizophrenia is far from being a positive one where Nash overcomes his problems and becomes a hero. Instead, it is a tragic story showing just how dysfunctional Nash was in all aspects of his life. His only significant positive accomplishment was the development of his game theory, which occurred when he was 21. The tragic question that remains but can never be answered, is how much Nash might have achieved if he had not have suffered from the disease.

This shows that Nash was largely ignored by his peers, rather than being socially accepted. Nasar also includes an anecdote describing how Nash asks a secretary for a sharp pair of scissors. The secretary is not sure whether to give them to Nash and asks Albert Tucker what to do. Tucker tells the secretary to give Nash the scissors but decides to keep an eye on him. Nasar (285) describes Nash's use for the scissors saying, "nash grabbed the scissors, walked over to a phone book that was lying out, and cut out the cover, a map of the Princeton area in primary colors. He pasted it in his notebook." This anecdote is actually quite revealing of how Nash is seen by his peers. It shows that his peers are wary of Nash and a little scared of him. At the same time, it shows that they treat him much like they might treat a child. The secretary does not simply give him the scissors, say no, or ask him what he wants them for. Instead, asking Tucker what to do is like asking a child's parent what to do. This illustrates that while Nash may not have been actually thrown out of the university or completely rejected, he was belittled by way of the opinion that people had of him. Nasar shows that Nash was largely ignored, with people only paying any attention to him when he interacted with them directly, such as in the case where he asks for sharp scissors. Nasar (17) emphasizes Nash's social status where she describes him as a "sad phantom who haunted the Princeton University campus where he had once been a brilliant graduate student." This reference to Nash as a phantom shows that he was considered unwanted by his peers. This illustrates that Nash was not able to fit into society while he suffered from schizophrenia. Instead, people simply tolerated him because it was easier to ignore him than to deal with him. This shows that Nash's story is not one where he is able to gain the acceptance of others. Instead, it is one where he remains socially isolated and ignored because of his condition.

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Approximate Word count = 3069
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page double spaced)