MovieChat Forums > Dead Poets Society (1989) Discussion > The snow scene...

The snow scene...

posted 8 years ago by ccbeachgirl
10 replies | jump to latest

In the snow scene, when Todd says, "It was his father!" The tall friend screams, "No!"
Wasn't it obvious the father was involved somehow? They were more like brothers than friends. They knew Neil was happiest being on stage, and they witnessed his angry father whisk him away.
Was the "no" saying he had nothing to do with Neil's death, or realization that he did, and he didn't want to believe it?

Or I just thought of this...did Todd think the father shot Neil? I know that's not it, but it's hot today, and I am delirious.

[–] Handar 8 years ago

I don't think the "no" was a direct answer to Todd's statement. I think it was more a reaction to the fact that Todd was obviously breaking down and they didn't want to see him so in pain. As in " no Todd, don't be like this, it's going to be ok" but then they realise that they need to leave him be. I also don't think that Todd thinks Neil's dad literally killed Neil.

[–] mikeyg24 8 years ago

Wasn't it obvious the father was involved somehow?

I've always found this a curious. Yes Mr Perry was a stern man but you don't have to be grooming your son for an Ivy League school to dictate their education. Even in public schools parents refuse to sign permission slips to extra curricular activities such as sports in case it interferes with their studies or gives them unreasonable expectations. I think we're supposed to believe he was even partially responsible but in my opinion he was a father trying to do the best by his teenage son. He even made him a de facto deal 'when you're out of this house you can do anything you want!'

My conclusion is Neil didn't ask to be a doctor, he didn't ask to go to Weltham but it was the hand he was dealt. He should have played it until he was his own man!

We have to show the world that not all of us are like him: Henning von Tresckow.

[–] Owlwise (1536) 5 years ago

I think Neil's father honestly believed that he was doing his best for his son … but he couldn't see that he was trying to make his son live out his own unrealized hopes & dreams, the things he might have wanted as a young man, but couldn't possibly afford. In his mind, he was doing for his son what he might have wished someone had done for him. In his mind, he was only doing good for Neil.

But in doing so, he could never really see Neil as a person in his own right, as someone who might want something different from life. It was unconscious on Mr. Perry's part, he was unaware of his own inner motivation, as he wanted to see himself as doing this wonderful thing for his son—but he couldn't see that he was also doing it for himself.

And clearly Mr. Perry was driven, perhaps even more so than the fathers of the other boys. I get the feeling that those other fathers, no matter how much they assumed their sons would follow in their footsteps, didn't begrudge their sons enjoying things like acting in school plays, or being in the band, or whatever else they might want to do, so long as it didn't affect their grades. Neil's father had something that he desperately needed to prove that those other fathers didn't have to—and that drove him to rigidly control Neil as much as he could, without being able to see that he was actually hurting Neil more than helping him. In a very real way, he didn't see Neil, he only saw himself. He wasn't a monster. He was simply lacking in self-awareness … and that had tragic consequences.

[–] Goodbye_from_Fox_In_A_Box 8 years ago

Or I just thought of this...did Todd think the father shot Neil? I know that's not it,

Yes, that's exactly it. Todd thought that after the play, Mr. Perry must have felt humiliated, and when they got home an argument started, and Perry shot his son out of anger. Todd wasn't thinking straight, and couldn't at the time come to terms with his roommate offing himself. Especially since Neil was always the one who'd cheer him up when Todd was down, like on his birthday. Made him see the bright side of things.

I don't want the world. I just want your half.

[–] Bernnard_Black 8 years ago

Maybe. I kind of always took it that Todd was the only one of the bunch that "got" why Neil did what he did. Todd never really knew Mr. Perry, but he DID know Neil. He roomed with him, and despite being super shy, was very intuitive and observant. He was also closest to Neil, since Neil was the guy who reached out to him when he came to the school. He's the most visibly upset by Neil's death, even though he knew him a shorter time than the others.

When Todd said "his father did it, his father killed him" I thought he just meant Neil's father drove him too it. The guys say "no" because they really don't think Mr. Perry would have caused Neil's death; they knew him, after all, and Todd didn't. I think Mr. Perry probably reminds them of their own fathers - remember how when Neil is forced to drop the annual, Knox and Charlie at least seem to understand what Neil was dealing with. Neil even says "you guys are the same way".

What I found most interesting about that scene was that Cameron wasn't out there with them. So either they didn't tell him, or he just didn't come out. Either way, it was an ominous thing for him not to be there at that time.

Whores will have their trinkets.

[–] annlevtex 8 years ago

Which one was Cameron again?

[–] hoosiersfan2011 8 years ago

The redhead with the scrub-brush haircut.

[–] Bernnard_Black 8 years ago

Yeah, he was the kid who ratted at the end. Charlie's room mate.

Whores will have their trinkets.

[–] stevenackerman69 8 years ago

Yes, he didn't mean that Mr. Perry pulled the trigger literally and killed Neil. What he meant was that Mr. Perry caused Neil to get so depressed that he felt this was the only way out. Todd wasn't stupid, just shy. And he knew Neil from rooming with him and what Neil had to go through.

[–] stevenackerman69 8 years ago

Todd is saying that Neil's father caused his death by not listening to what Neil wanted to do so Neil felt the only way out was suicide. Todd is saying that Neil wouldn't have done that himself. I guess Pitts was trying to deny it or it was just a reaction at the time.