电影《死亡诗社》中Neil Perry的人物分析

Neil?s character always remains static – meaning he does not undergo a change in his character at any time during the movie. Just because he died at the end does not mean that he changed.

His life was an act –to his father, to Keating, even to himself, b ut when he wasn?t acting, he thought he had nothing to contribute – he was just as lost as Todd was when Todd first came to Welton. Neil couldn?t deal with the idea that to give up acting was to quit playing the roles that he lived everyday, and so he kill ed himself because he “realized that he had not lived” up to that point. He just took on a different role to fit the circumstance. He never was upfront and honest about his passions to anyone. Neil wanted to be someone else – a person who could express his passions when the time was appropriate. Symbolism:

Neil seems to symbolize his kneeling down before everyone – such as his father (who takes away all control Neil tries to have – such as the editor of the newspaper) and the school. Perry seems to be sym bolic for “perish” and death, foreshadowing Neil?s suicide later in the movie. I think that?s why Todd and Neil got along so well. (On the first day of Keating?s class, Keating states that they are all going to die. Neil looks incredibly disturbed while considering this.) Neil could control Todd, and that was the only thing in his life he felt he had control over. Also, in a way, I think Neil saw himself in Todd, because Neil acted towards his father the way Todd acted towards everyone. By trying to help Todd, he thought maybe he could help himself. Neil claims, “the meek might inherit the earth, but they don?t make it into Harvard,” and he?s right –he?s meek, and he never makes it into Harvard.

He is the first to ask what the Dead Poets Society was. He is also the one to organize the first meeting. Neil also tells Todd that he must participate in the club.

Neil?s Poems

These lines and his Madman Story not only explain Neil?s philosophy but foreshadow what is about to come – his destruction.

“I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life. To put to rout all that was not life, and not when I had come to die, discover that I had not lived.” – from Walden

“Come, my friends, …T is not too la te to seek a newer world.

For my purpose holds To sail beyond the sunset, and tho? We are not now that strength which in old days Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are; One equal temper of heroic hearts, Made weak by time and fate, but strong i n will To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.” – from Ulysses

“It was a dark and rainy night. And this old lady who had a passion for jigsaw puzzles

sat by herself in her house at her table to complete a new jigsaw puzzle. As she pieced

the puzzle together, she realized to her astonishment that the image that was formed was

her very own room, and the figure in the center of the puzzle, as she completed it, was

herself. And with trembling hands she placed the last four pieces and stared in horror at

the face of the demented madman at the window. The last thing that this old lady ever

heard was the sound of breaking glass.”

In the end, Neil realized that it was his own life and he was in the center of it. Since his dad had control over him and he was too afraid to stand up to him.

Midsummer Night?s Dream

When Neil learns about the play, he is filled with his passions. He claims that this is the first time in his life that he knows what he wants to do, even if his father disapproves. When Todd mentions this, he asks, “Can?t I just enjoy the idea for a while?” This is the beginning of his loss of control to his passions.

As the role of Puck, Neil is able to express what he could not when he wasn?t acting. The Puck epilogue is said directly to his father, in hopes that his father will forgive him. He cannot say anything later when his father tells him what he expects Neil to do because at that moment he is no longer acting.

Suicide

Finally, in his room, he realizes that the last four pieces of the puzzle of his life have been put into place, and that his only option in order to gain some control of his life is to take his own life. Neil was his father?s dream. When his father woke up, his dream was gone.

Neil, His Father, and the Suicide

Neil?s relati onship with his father is a case of misunderstanding and lack of communication. Mr. Perry wanted what was best for his son, which led to extremely high expectations. Neil wanted to find out who he was and what he wanted to do. Neil was unable to discuss his opinions and options with his father, and Mr. Perry was unwilling to look at Neil?s outlook on life. This cyclical pattern led Neil to conclude that suicide was the only way to gain control of his life and stand up to his father.

There is no evidence that Neil thought about suicide up until that night. It appears to be a spontaneous decision made on the basis of the hopelessness he felt that night. Maybe it was an act to break free from his father?s control, but in trying to gain that control over his l ife, he sacrificed everything to escape.

Mr. Perry was at traditionalist, which unfortunately meant he had a difficult time expressing affectionate emotions. He also had a large number of expectations because like any parent, he ultimately wanted the best for his son, a 16-17 year old with a bright future ahead of him. Unfortunately, Neil never really saw or understood that his father only wanted what was best for Neil. He only saw the tyrant-like authority figure who constantly demanded that Neil achieve greatness in academia and who obeyed him unquestioningly.

Neil, however, did question that role – to himself, to others, even to Keating. Unfortunately, he never truly was able to convey that to his father. The only time he was able to stand up to his father was in the role of Puck during the play, when he asked for forgiveness with his last soliloquy, an act which deliberately disobeyed and thus enraged his father. He had many opportunities to do so before then, but he never seized the opportunity to reestablish a connection. The father and son were like strangers, each with a specific perception of the other, but neither really knew who the other was. This perpetuated the cycle of misunderstandings between the two and eventually played a major role in Ne il?s suicide.

In Mr. Perry?s perspective, Neil was a model child who was focused on getting into a good college. He then learns from another parent that Neil was going to be in the play. This was the first he had heard of this, as Neil had lied to everyo ne about his father?s approval. Mr. Perry then told Neil that couldn?t be involved, an order Neil deliberately disobeyed by performing in the opening show the following night. When Mr. Perry saw Neil as Puck, he became furious and probably overreacted a bit by concluding that

it must be the school (or more specifically, Mr Keating – the new teacher) that was the cause of this and that Neil should transfer schools to regain his focus.

Neil, on the other hand, wanted to know who he was. He was always obedien t to his father?s wishes, but he wanted to know more about himself. Acting was something he could do for himself – something that he enjoyed and allowed him to explore what he was able to accomplish. On the other hand, it was also a means of escaping his current reality by being someone else for a few hours. Keating suggested Neil talk to his father about this passion, but Neil second guessed his father?s actions by arguing that his father would never understand. He never gave his father the benefit of the doubt and tried to explain. Keating even went so far as to tell Neil that even if his father didn?t see things his way, he?d soon be out of school and could do what he wished then. Neil wouldn?t listen to this advice, and later when Keating asked if Neil had spoken to his father, Neil said he did consent.

Yes, Mr. Perry was hard on Neil, but that was probably out of concern. He was paying a lot of money to attend a great school to prepare him for an ivy league school, and Neil, out of nowhere, decides he d oesn?t want to go to college. He wants to act. Mr. Perry believed that this was a fleeting dream, and that if Neil followed this path, he would be throwing away a wonderful opportunity for a pursuit that would last a couple of years. After all, most people don?t really have a grasp on their future until at least their junior or senior year of college. If his acting career failed, which in all likelihood, it would have, Neil would have no skills to fall back on.

Also, Neil never really stood up to his father. There were times he tried, like when Mr. Perry told Neil he should drop some extracurricular activities, but he did so in the presence of others, which created a hostile environment between the two. It would have been interesting if Neil and his father would have actually sat down and chatted about what Neil wanted and what they could do to compromise. Even at the very end, when the two confronted each other right before Neil committed suicide, Neil still could not face his father. Mr. Perry specifically asked Neil what he wanted, and Neil couldn?t answer him. I think Mr. Perry really expected Neil to give him an answer, and I think if Neil would have, his father may have been more understanding.

In a way, Neil resembles how Todd was in the beginning of the movie. Todd couldn?t speak to anyone of authority without sounding insecure. In one of the extra scenes, Todd tried to ask for rowing instead of soccer, but could barely speak. He was given soccer instead. Also, in class, whenever he was asked a quest ion, he couldn?t answer. He wanted to say something – especially to recite the poem he spent so much time writing, but he never could. He even ended up ripping up his poem.

Who is Responsible for the Suicide?

In the end, both the realists and the romantic s blame the other for Neil?s suicide. The romantics say it was Neil?s father. Even Todd says this when he first confronts his romanticism in the snow. The realists say it was Keating, and in the end, force Keating to leave. Neither side wants to believe that through the act of suicide, Neil is taking control of his own life decisions and therefore must assume the responsibility.

Suicide is a personal choice, and only Neil could decide whether or not to commit the act. There is a point in everyone?s life wh ere they feel that no one understand them, and no matter what they say, it

doesn?t change the situation. However, by Neil killing himself, Mr. Perry never had the opportunity to understand his son?s desires and passions.