A Beautiful Mind Scenes 51-55 Summary

John continues his work at Princeton while Charles shouts insults at him.
Some folks around campus make fun of John for the way he lopes around campus. We assume they're real? Either way, they aren't very nice.

Now we're back at John's house.
Some years have apparently passed, since John and Alicia's son has grown up quite a bit. John continues working and ignoring his delusions…who, yes, are still following him around.

It's now 1978, and John's in the library working…still.
A young student notices what John's doing and asks him about it. The kid shows John his own work.
Outside, Alicia appears to be waiting for John, and Hansen runs to get her.
He takes her into the library, where John is holding forth with a group of students. Looks like he's finally fitting in.

As they walk around campus, John tells Hansen he might want to teach.
Hansen is a little dubious, but John presses.
They talk about the status of John's delusions, and Hansen says he'll talk to the department about the request.

We then zoom ahead to 1994, and John is exiting a lecture hall. Looks like he got that teaching gig after all.
There's an unfamiliar dude waiting for John. John makes a student verify that the guy is real.
As it turns out, he is—and he's there to tell John he's up for the Nobel Prize.
They walk and talk, and the guy asks him to come into the faculty club for tea.
John is nervous about going in, but they sit.
John asks why the Nobel committee would be disclosing the nominees, since that isn't standard.
The guy doesn't outright say it, but the truth is they're trying to feel out whether John is sane enough to win (you know, without embarrassing anyone).
While they are talking, professors start walking up and doing the whole pen thing to John that Helinger showed him all those years ago. Looks like word of John's achievement has gotten around.