Throughout the novel The Catcher in the Rye and the film Dead Poets Society, both of the main characters Holden and Neil have strained relationships with their parents. For Holden Caulfield, he struggles with the fear of telling his parents that he was expelled from boarding school due to the expectations of his parents. Then, for Neil, he struggles with finding his own path that is separate from his father’s ideas, but cannot confront the strictness of his father. Within these two sources are notable examples of undergoing parental expectations.
In the film Dead Poets Society, the main character Neil endures a challenging with his father. Since Neil is away at school, his father has very high standards for his son, as well as expects his …show more content…
In addition, the time when this relationship was seen at its worst was when Neil finally stood up to his father and decided to take on the path of acting. Neil showed to have a great passion for the art, and wanting nothing more but to pursue the role; however, when his father saw him perform and disobeying his orders, Neil was forced to go home and not stay at school. Then, when Neil was home, he committed suicide in the middle of the night due to the awful conditions and expectations from his father. This situation in the film lends to the category for parental expectations. Since Neil was not “enough” for his father and wasn’t heading down the path to go to Harvard and be a doctor, his father constantly kept reprimanding him and making Neil feel less worthless. In fact, Neil was a great kid and strong leader for the group of boys; however, when it came down to confronting his father, Neil was always so intimidated and afraid of the response and disappointment he would receive from his father. Furthermore, a similar relationship can be found with Holden Caulfield and his father in The Catcher in the Rye. In the beginning of the novel, Holden immediately goes on a major rant of how much he despises his boarding school, Pencey Prep. When Holden
In the film Dead Poets Society, the main character Neil endures a challenging with his father. Since Neil is away at school, his father has very high standards for his son, as well as expects his …show more content…
In addition, the time when this relationship was seen at its worst was when Neil finally stood up to his father and decided to take on the path of acting. Neil showed to have a great passion for the art, and wanting nothing more but to pursue the role; however, when his father saw him perform and disobeying his orders, Neil was forced to go home and not stay at school. Then, when Neil was home, he committed suicide in the middle of the night due to the awful conditions and expectations from his father. This situation in the film lends to the category for parental expectations. Since Neil was not “enough” for his father and wasn’t heading down the path to go to Harvard and be a doctor, his father constantly kept reprimanding him and making Neil feel less worthless. In fact, Neil was a great kid and strong leader for the group of boys; however, when it came down to confronting his father, Neil was always so intimidated and afraid of the response and disappointment he would receive from his father. Furthermore, a similar relationship can be found with Holden Caulfield and his father in The Catcher in the Rye. In the beginning of the novel, Holden immediately goes on a major rant of how much he despises his boarding school, Pencey Prep. When Holden