Dead Poets Society Post

Within the movie Dead Poets Society, there is the ongoing tension between expecting to conform and going against those expectations. At Welton, the private, all male, conservative boarding school is the definitive place of conformity. The faculty look and dress exactly alike, talk alike, and teach alike. Although there are many different subjects offered, all classes are similar with their textbook-exact learning. The fact that everything is the same shows the reputation it tries to uphold as a preparatory school. All students have expectations-from parents, teachers, administrators, and other students-ones that can either motivate or crush the student. They include participating in activities only others approve of, getting superb grades, going on to pursue education at only certain, usually Ivy League schools, and becoming only an approved profession. With the rigorous expectations, being oneself is the hardest trait one could obtain at this school. Going against the conformity of the school poses various dangers toward the student, including reprimanding from parents and staff, the threat of expulsion, and the reputation they hold at the school. 

When the new English teacher, Mr. Keating, is hired for Welton, he brings an entire new element to the school. He encourages the boys to "Carpe Diem" and to uphold their beliefs, no matter what anyone says or thinks. His ideas of non-conformity teach valuable life lessons and later encourage the boys to be themselves in certain situations. Unfortunately, this encouraged behavior launched him and the students into disaster. One of the boys pursues his love for acting, but he is forced by his father to quit and do what the father expects. The intense amount of pressure put on the boy for not conforming to his father's beliefs led him to commit suicide. Additionally, certain boys were reprimanded for going out and creating their "Dead Poets Society." Later on, Mr. Keating is forced to resign for his teaching methods and what he taught his students. The fact the school was so unwilling to accept nonconformity and threatened students who embraced it shows the anti-transcendentalist mindset of the school, and how it endangered anyone who wished to be their self.