Asp/Dps Essay

Dylan Owens
11-10-08
6th

The best essay ever written in the entire world about the comparison and contrast of A Separate Peace and Dead Poets Society.

There are many similarities between the film Dead Poets Society and the novel A Separate Peace. It could be easily assumed that the film was loosely based on the book because they are so similar. There are a couple of differences and additions to the movie, but as a whole it is very similar to A Separate Peace with characters, conflicts, and themes.
The characters in Dead Poets Society are easily compared with those of A Separate Peace. Both have outgoing characters, such as Mr. Keating and Finny, which inspire the others and eventually are wrongly punished for their actions for which they had only good intentions. The traits of Finny are similar to several of the characters in the film. Mr. Keating has Finny’s charisma, Neil has his attitude about breaking an occasional rule, and Charlie has his rebellious and carefree side. Charlie, however, is different from Finny in that he does not have his charisma, which allowed Finny to get away with his pranks.
Some of the characters in the film have minor similarities to characters from the book. For example, Pitts is like Leper in the sense that he is odd, Neil is like Brinker in the sense that they are both heavily influenced by their fathers, and Richard is like Quackenbush in the sense that they both think they know what is best. A couple of characters in the film also have traits similar to those of Gene. Neil is like him in that he is very academic and Todd is like him in that he is a follower and is neither outgoing nor confident about himself.
The conflicts of the two storylines are also easily compared. In each a main character dies in a way that is indirectly caused by another character, such as Neil’s dad or Gene. After the tragedies in both stories occur, conspiracy theories are formed and characters are forced to deal with the repercussions of...