Most of the boys were meant to follow their father’s footsteps. Ironically, Neil does not have to follow his father’s footsteps because his father did not have opportunities like what Neil has now. However, Neil cannot make his own decisions for his life. Neil wanted to do extracurricular activities and have his photo in the yearbook but his father forced him to quit on that stuff, even though he had straight A’s, making him to only focus on school. Neil was going to be the successor of his family by becoming a doctor. Opposingly, Todd was forgotten by his family and lived in the shadows of his older brother, who was Valedictorian and a National Merit Scholar, which made him become an introvert. Both had many expectations to make their family proud. Neil had a dream to become an actor and achieved it. He felt he finally controlled his own life. However, his father banned him from going to the play ever again and told him to continue his studies. Neil stood up against his father saying, “I have got to tell you what I feel”, then his father asked, “what do you feel then son”, but Neil went back to being silent and just said nothing. Neil felt just as lost as Todd was when Todd first came to Welton. After that moment, Neil wanted to gain control of his life and stand up to his father so he decided to kill himself knowing that he did well as an actor in the play. Todd, however, did not let his …show more content…
It gave some of the student’s inspiration. Todd was the one that understood the most about “Carpe Diem,” while Neil lied to Keating about his father accepting him being in the play. Todd found his own voice from Keating. Keating helped Todd by making him create a poem on the spot in front of the class. Todd felt embarrassed but he kept going and found confidence in his own abilities. Todd has learned that he does have a “verse” to contribute and he is no longer scared to express himself. Even when Keating was leaving the classroom in shame, Todd stood up for him and said, “O Captain my Captain,” honoring Keating for everything he has taught him which triggered some of the boys to stand up as well. In contrast, Neil was told to stand up against his father by Keating since Keating saw how Neil’s father treated him. Todd grasped more of the understanding of “Carpe Diem” than Neil did. Todd standing up has shown that he has overcome his timidness and can stand up for what he believes is right. Todd had finally become a