How Dead Poets Society Changes Life Perspective

By: Michelle

According to Taylor Larsen, Walt Disney Archives (2024) “Dead Poets Society takes place in the fall of 1959 at the fictional Welton Academy, a secluded and traditionally boys' school in the tranquil hills of Vermont. It follows several students on their academic journey with a new English teacher, whose ideas about learning inspire them to pursue their passions and explore new horizons of self-expression, discovering the excitement of a world outside Welton's strict curriculum.” Most of the teachers in Welton Academy are very rigid and conservative in terms of teaching, because it is taken at a time when society expected young men to pursue careers, focusing on money and material success. The conservative teachers in Dead Poets Society represents the cultural norms of the era, which prioritized conformity over individual expression and critical thinking.

From Hyde Park Picture House 

In the film, when John Keating showed them an unusual teaching method, at first they were all weirded out by the unusualness, but as time went by, the students were really amazed and greatly affected by his teaching method. Todd gains more courage in expressing his opinions whereas he used to be anxious and scared of his surroundings, and Neil finally found his purpose in life, which is to be an actor. But a tragedy happened, Neil committed suicide the night after he performed as Puck. His father really opposed his dream as an actor, resulting in a huge fight after Neil performed. 

There's one specific quote from John Keating where he sat around the students and said “We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.” This part is very important to me, especially growing up in a third world country where art and humanities are not seen on the same level as science and engineering. Those things for sure are very important to sustainability, but we often forget art and humanities allow humans to share life experiences and make life at least a bit meaningful. 

The film Dead Poets Society is not just about poetry, it's about being alive and finding a meaning in chaos, something that people often forget about. At least, this film taught me that it is alright to find your own life purpose and you don't have to fulfil other's expectations, because at the end of the day, you're the one who's living your life, not your parents nor anyone else.

From Rotten Tomatoes