Dead Poets Society Relationships

Neil was feeling the great pressure of trying to make his father happy, but Neil was not happy. When Neil was doing the play, his father found out, and was very upset with him. After the play Neils father took him home and punished him. After such an emotional trauma, Neil made the decision to end his

In both Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart and Peter Weir’s Dead Poets Society, the complex relationships between father and son are caused by the father's desire to force their own beliefs onto their sons. Okonkwo and Neil Perry both form these beliefs off of conformation to society and following the status quo within each novel. Both these two fathers use their authority to enforce these beliefs. This restriction of beliefs cause the boys to suppress their hopes and passions until they erupt with rebellion which leads to conflict with their fathers. Despite their misjudgements, both fathers want what's best for their sons however they believe the only way their sons can be successful is for them to follow in their father's footsteps.

Neil Perry is also a troubled young man within himself because he doesn’t want to conform to the life his father wants for him. Neil wants to be his own person and to the things he likes to do but he is afraid to stand up to his father. His father is a phony conformist such as Holden describes his father in Catcher in the Rye. Neil’s father makes him quit the school paper because one of his teachers wants him to, when Neil tries to stand up for himself, his father scolds him and tells him when he graduates medical school he can do what he wants, until then, he must obey what his father tells him. When he does finally do what he wants, when he finally incorporates the ‘’carpe diem’’ phrase into his life and made the decision for himself to act in the play, his father decides to take him out of Welton and send him to military school. Neil felt the only to break his father’s shackles was to kill himself. I think that Neil felt that he couldn’t bare

Neil’s father is very serious about Neil being a spectacular student and strictly focusing on his school work and grades. Neil’s father finds out about his son's actions and time he has spent working on the play and is disgusted. Neil is very upset with his father and his lack of understanding of the passion and love he has for acting. Neil shows nonconformity by telling his father how much he cares about the play and convincing him to let him perform the next night. This shows transcendentalism because although Neil's father was not fond of the idea of him being in the play, Neil took his own path by being apart of the play no matter what his father said or

Tired of being out of control of his life he follows his heart and goes anyway. Sadly caught in the act, his father shows up to the play and Neil is told he will be sent to military school. Tragically, but not in vain, Neil commits suicide. Although dreadful, Neil ‘s action shows true carpe diem, When he finally takes control of his

His whole life neil has followed his father's wills even if he disagrees with them. For example his father did not want him on the debate team so Neil quit even though he did not want too. Disappointing his father is a constant fear to Neil, an option he wishes to avoid at all cost. His father reminds him that he has given his life to focus on Neils future, they are not a wealthy family however all their money goes to Neils education. Neil feels compelled to listen to his father who has made sacrifices on account of Neil's well being ,however, it may contradict his true feelings. Neil’s dreams and ambitions are forbidden to him from his father because he believes it is not in Neils best interest.

In dead poets society the school setting is displayed as a strict and unfriendly place where student’s individuality is oppressed. The school immediately gives the impression of being highly traditionalistic from the first scene. It opens with the start of a new school year and new boys are being initiated into the school through a ceremony involving the lighting of a candle. The candle’s flame represents traditionalistic conformist views being passed down to the new students from a previous student, showing that new knowledge is not considered of value by the school. After this ceremony Mr Nolan is scene making a speech about why tradition is important to the school. We see in this scene that the conformity has a strong, suffocating grasp on this

This event shows that Neil and his father had a lack of communication between the

Neil was originally a smart student who would’ve easily got into college. He liked to act, so he joined the biggest play of the school. He asked his father if he could join the play, because Mr. Keiting said there was a chance that if Neil told his father about how he felt about the play then he might let him participate in it. His father was a very strict man and said that he was not allowed, and told him to leave the play. Neil got so upset of not being able to be able to do his play because of his father, so he disobeyed his father. His father found out that he disobeyed him, when he went to the play. His father was telling him that he was gonna take him out, and put him in Brighton military school, so that he would be able to go to college and become a doctor. Neil was so upset about not being able to act that when his whole family was sleeping, he took his father’s gun, shot himself, then died.

On his first day, he asks someone to read the introduction of the students’ textbook on poetry. The introduction was full of complex wording and ideas about how to understand poetry, which Keating thought was meaningless. He then tells the kids to rip out the whole introduction, saying that poetry goes well beyond the “technical aspects”.

Neil is afraid to stand up to his father and take control of his own life. He doesn’t want anything to do with what his father plans for him. Neil was always obedient

Neil did well in the play and he thought that his dad would be fine with him acting if he was good at it and if he had maintained good grades but, he was wrong. Neil’s father wasn’t as understanding as Neil thought and they began to argue with each other, his father ends up telling Neil that he is going to a new school that adds 10 more years to his education. Neil tries to get through to his dad that he wants to do what he wants, but when his dad listens, he asks Neil to tell him what he wants but Neil can’t say muster up any words. Now, Neil feels like he has no freedom and can’t do anything anymore, so he goes into his dad’s office, grabs his dad’s gun and shoots himself, resolving his climax and

Neil commits suicide because his father refuses to see anything from his perspective. Even after Neil’s death, Mr. Perry does not perceive that his son killed himself because of his overbearing nature and lack of understanding of Neil’s gift. His relationship with his father struggled because of a shortage in communication. The insufficiency of communication in Neil’s relationship with his father resulted in the end of his short, poorly lived life. Likewise, Neil’s roommate, Todd Anderson, experiences a poor relationship with his parents filled with

Professor John Keating was a new teacher in the school who had unorthodox methods of teaching his class. Originally, he was supposed to teach a very serious class with no fun and games, the only focus is learning and that is it. Mr. Keating was also a rebellion of this strain theory. With his unorthodox methods of teaching his class, he stressed the idea of carpe diem. This concept affects all of his students and they were to “seize the day” by setting themselves free of the order their society had imposed on them. Mr. Keating was a big influencer in Neil’s decision to pursue acting. The pressures to succeed placed on Neil by his parents and society prevent him from exploring his own individuality. He felt as if he were enclosed in a box with nowhere to go. Neil’s father had warned him that if he did not stop acting he would have

Mr Perry is among the characters to blame for Neil’s death. Throughout the film, it is clear that he had no concerns about what his son wanted in life. Instead, he creates high expectations which only fill his own past regrets and missed opportunities. He never considers that Neil may want to fulfill a career besides medicine. From the beginning of the film, Neil is known for having high expectations applied by his realist father. When Mr Perry talks to Neil about quitting the school annual, the close up side shot of them facing each other shows a lot of tension. Neil is trapped against the wall. This reveals his sense of vulnerability to the audience. When his father finally leaves, Neil is exasperated and his smile fades. Further, even though Neil achieves top scores in all his subjects, his father disapproves of his passion for acting and