One of the main elements of both the Bildungsroman A Separate Peace by John Knowles and the eccentric film The Poets' Moment , written by Tom Schulman and directed by Peter Weir, is friendship. Friendship can involve many phases and, at times, can be very complex, but in the pure definition it is "a relationship between two or more people who are friends" (Encarta Dictionary). Both works feature a boarding school where teenage boys interact with each other on a daily basis. This is how friendships are born. However, all friendships can go through difficult times. A true friend will stand by his partner in all these moments. By paralleling the positive and negative aspects of the friendships between Gene and Finny from A Separate Peace by John Knowles and Todd and Neil from Dead Poets Society, it becomes clear that the friendship involves much more than simply sharing interests, hobbies, or interests. activities, but rather standing by each other's side in all things, good and bad. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayGene and Phineas, usually referred to as "Finny", share a very complex bond. At first glance, it's clear that they are friends, but, on a deeper level, they may not be. In every friendship, there is always one friend who is the most "friendly", the most dominant friend, who is usually more enthusiastic, energetic or adamant about going somewhere or doing something with the other. It's obvious that Finny is this friend; Gene is more reserved and studious than Finny. Because Finny believes so much in his friendship with Gene, and in his strength, he is willing to ignore his thoughts that Gene might have had something to do with his accident: I don't know, I must have just lost my balance. That must have been it. I had this idea, this feeling that when you were there next to me,... I don't know, I had some kind of feeling. But you can't say anything for sure just from feelings. And this feeling doesn't make any sense. It was a crazy idea, I had to be delirious. So I just have to forget it. I just fell... that's all... I'm sorry for that feeling I had. Even though there is plenty of evidence that could prove that Gene made Finny fall from the tree (for example, he was on the branch when Finny fell), Finny chooses to depend on his trust in Gene to know, or choose to believe, that Gene does not pushed him off the tree. Even though Finny is the more trusting friend, and Gene is the more paranoid and distrustful friend, Finny still helps him prepare for the Olympics and supports him: “Did I ever tell you I was aiming for the Olympics? .And now I'm not sure, not one hundred percent sure, that I'll be completely, you know, fit by 1944. So I'll train you for them instead... Leave your fantasy life out of this. We're getting you ready for the Olympics, man, in 1944." This may seem ironic because Finny, with his broken leg, may need more support than he gives Gene. From Gene's perspective, however, one might see also supports Finny. Finny wanted to go to the Olympics, but now with this leg it's not even possible, so in fact Gene is helping Finny realize his dream. Finny's support for Gene is more physical because he himself can no longer have success in that area, while Gene's support for Finny is more mental because Gene is more pronounced in that area. In addition to helping him with all his homework, in fact helping him graduate from high school, Gene allows Finny to live in his world fantastic, where war is invented by fat cats in suits sitting in boardrooms eating steaks and everyone wins every game and there are never any losers: have you swallowed all that war stuff?...Do you really think that the United States of America is at war with Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan?... Don't be a sap, there isn't just any war... Fat old men who don't want us to force them to leave work. They invented everything. For example, there is no real food shortage. Now the men have all the best steaks delivered to their clubs. You've noticed they've been putting on weight lately, right? This ultimately backfires in a way on Gene because he eventually starts to believe Finny's ideas about war too. And this is where everything starts to go downhill. Neil Perry and Todd Anderson, while they might be considered friends, don't share the same bond as Gene and Finny. Todd is the shyer of the two, most likely because he was stuck in his older brother's shadow, as his brother also went to Wellton and excelled at everything. Because Todd is so shy, Neil, being the optimist that he is, encourages him to participate more in life: “You were there. Don't you want to do something about it?" (Weir) When the boys confront Mr. Keating about the Dead Poets Society, and he tells them about how the boys could use poetry to understand the world, and make women swoon, most part of the mare immediately gets on board. All except Todd, who Neil will talk to later. Todd doesn't want to participate in case they get caught, which could mean expulsion from school. However, Neil, like Finny, wants everyone around he is as happy and carefree as he is. He is often shown trying to cheer Todd up and inspire him to: “…Suck the marrow out of life” (Weir) with wisdom like: “Shit. (Weir) Neil is more the type to throw caution to the wind and deal with the consequences later, but Todd is very cautious and practical When he hears everything Neil wants to do, or something he dreams of, Todd is often the voice of reason . However, it can be very negative, which balances Neil's optimism, but at the same time it can be a little overbearing and counterbalancing: "The point is, there's nothing you can do about it." ) Many times, when Todd makes these unintentionally depressing comments, we as readers get to see what shaped his character into the discouraging way it is now, and how Neil has eased him into suicide. Friendships, like life in general, can go through difficult times. Things aren't always easy; people don't always agree with each other. When bad things start happening to good people, it's easy to lose hope and start doubting even your closest friends tries to inspire the Devon students to keep their hopes high and starts the Super Suicide Society which requires long, late-night meetings, Gene begins to lose his trust in Finny, as he believes Finny is sabotaging Gene's incredible efforts to succeed academically . become an excellent student at Devon:“After all, he should talk. He had won and was proud to win the Galbraith Football Trophy and the Contact Sport Award, and there were two or three other athletic awards he was sure of getting this year or next. If I had been class president on graduation day and given a speech and won the Ne Plus Ultra scholastic achievement citation, then we would both have come out on top, we would have been tied, that's all. We would be even. It was just like that!... Finny had deliberately set out to ruin my studies. This explained the blitzball, this explained the nightly meetings of the Super Suicide Society, this explained his insistence that I share in all his diversions. he sincerely thinks that Gene is really involved in all these activities and has no intention of trying to take him down. Between the two, Gene is certainly the more paranoid and suspicious, but.