According to the statistics on peer pressure, “70% of teens who smoke say they started smoking because their friends smoke, or they felt pressured to try smoking.” But in other cases, peer pressure has helped friends overcome addictions and perhaps quit smoking. This essay will address the various consequences of conformity, pertaining to the Dead Poet’s society. First off, conformity can lead one to where they don’t want to be. Neil conformed to his parents’ will; they picked his school, chose his courses, and determined his future occupation. Yet, his parent’s choices went against Neil’s nature. Neil passionately wanted to pursue acting. His dreams and his father's visions didn’t line up. When Neil conformed to his parents’ hopes versus …show more content…
At first, the Latin teacher, Mr. McAllister taught his students from their desks. He did the textbook worksheets, and it was a very structured, boring class. Then Mr. Keating came along. Mr. Keating took his classes on walks outside to teach them different life lessons, having an interactive style class. Mr. McAllister saw how much more productive his class was, going outside and experiencing things instead of just hearing them. By the end of the book, we saw that Mr. McAllister took his class outside and talked to them incorporating nature into their academics. Mr. McAllister started out teaching as all the other teachers did, not because he thought this was the best way to teach, but because it was all he knew. Mr. Keating came along and taught him that different, is not bad. This encouraged him to think for himself and do what he thought would be beneficial for his students and their learning and not what others deemed was the appropriate way to teach. Another example of how conforming is easier was when Neil pressured Todd into joining the Dead Poet’s Society. Todd was a shy person and especially didn’t like reading in front of others. When Neil and his friends formed the Dead Poet’s Society, Neil urged him to join not letting him stay in the safety of the school, but encouraging him to be adventurous. Neil demanded Todd participate in the Dead Poet’s Society …show more content…
The boys recreated the Dead Poet’s Society that Mr. Keating participated in when he was younger. There they were able to say and do whatever they wanted. Girls were even invited, which they weren’t allowed to see at their all boy school. Here they were invincible; it was a place where anyone can share their feelings and talents without shame. When the boys started this club they didn’t think about what their parents or teachers would think. They had the freedom to do and act the way they pleased, without fear of being judged. If they had conformed with what was acceptable and not risked breaking school rules, they would never have felt the freedom of the Dead Poet’s Society. At the end of the movie when Neil committed suicide, the school wanted to find someone to condemn. The boys were pressured by both their parents and the threat of being expelled from school if they didn’t follow through. They were forced to sign papers that blamed the death of Neil on Mr. Keating, firing him from his job. The boys had no reason to do this they admired him as their teacher and what he stood for. They were forced to conform to what the school and their parents wanted. What they wanted and believed in was not important. Their freedom of choice was nothing to Mr. Nolan the headmaster. He just wanted what was best for him and the school, not the
Many people have heard the old phrase “if one jumped off a cliff, would you follow them?” that concerns conforming into society and following other people’s actions. In “Stargazer”, by Dara Weir, being a conformist is seen to be a negative way of life for one to pursue. Upon initially reading “Stargazer”, I was overwhelmed with the depth of the poem. I had a strong sense of the poem being about society, but I had it had taken a few readings to get a stronger background of the meaning. After doing so, I felt more positive emotions throughout the poem, as it thoroughly describes opportunity that an individual is given throughout their life. With this, though, conformity can be a factor that may affect the opportunities one receives. Although
Nothing really happens at the meetings other than the reading of poetry for inspiration in life. Neil, perhaps the most perplexing character in the movie, discovers his dream in life is to be an actor. His father, for a reason none other than...
The movie, Dead Poets Society truly captures the essence of the conformities that children are facing. The difference is letting the hourglass run out of time, or making the best of time, facing tough challenges along the way. Todd Anderson makes the best out of his time thanks to the teaching of Mr. Keating, his beloved English teacher. From a misunderstood adolescent to a courageous man, Todd shows his true colors and releases the inferior thoughts stirring up in his developing, young body. In the end, romanticism crushes idealism with power and envy, showing the eye-opening ways that a teacher can contribute to such a tightly wound academy such as Welton.
Director Peter Weir, director of The Truman Show, presents the importance of individuality and speaking up in his movie Dead Poets Society, a fictional but realistic story that tells the story of a group of friends at the Wellington Academy prep school and their interactions with their new English teacher, John Keating (Robin Williams). Keating teaches the boys life lessons through some interesting teaching methods that end up changing his students’ approach to life’s challenging situations. Throughout watching Dead Poets Society, I found myself liking the movie more and more as it progressed.
Keating demonstrates to his students that books and poetry are necessary in life, but should not be relied upon completely. For example, Mr. Keating tells his students that, “ ‘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’ ”. Similarly, Emerson believes that, “Moses, Plato, and Milton is, that they set at naught books and traditions, and spoke not what men but what they thought. A man should learn to detect and watch that gleam of light which flashes across his mind from within, more than the lustre of the firmament of bards and sages”. Poetry, books, tradition, bards, and sages are essential for people to have passion and knowledge in life, but it does not mean that they should live a life base on those ideas. At some point in life, people have to think for themselves. They should pursue what their heart wants them to because everyone has to think for themselves and find their own talents. This is the main idea Mr. Keating and Emerson are trying to explain. Thus, this is the concept that Mr. Keating is trying to pass
“Dead Poet’s Society” is a film set in the late fifties at a prestigious school for boys called the Welton Academy. The story focuses on an unorthodox English teacher and his impact upon his students, especially a group of seven boys. The primary focus of this film, in my opinion, is the theme of coming of age. The film itself highlights many important and relevent issues that teenagers face in the process of trying to find out who they are as a person. The students are constantly pressured to conform by adults throughout most of the film. Although these adults are only trying to help the boys, it is important that they figure themselves out and develop their own way of thinking. When the boys realize this, they grow up themselves. The character of Todd is a fantastic example of this. Throughout most of the film, this shy boy is ultimately unwilling and reluctant to go against what he is told. When Neil commits suicide, he begins to see the world in a very different way and understands that sometimes questioning the decisions and regulations accepted by society is necessary.
But thinking about it Neil lives by his dads rules and with him thinking about Carpe diem lead him to go after his dream of acting he knew his dad wouldn’t let that happen but he did it anyways. After his dad finds out he takes him home
His parents are always pushing him to go to Harvard and be a doctor, but Neil’s passion is acting and that is what he wants to do with his life
The audience is positioned in Keating’s class to share the view of the students, and close ups shots of individual students show them listening but not with the boredom shown in other classes, but with enthusiasm and optimism. This use of camera angles also allows insight into the way Keating sees his pupils, positioning himself on a level of mutual respect. In the first lesson of Keating’s class he introduces the idea of freedom to think as an individual when he declares mathematically analysing a poem is “excrement”. Keating says this because he does not believe in constructing a poem using maths and teaching how to write it, because you can’t teach poetry, it comes from the heart. Following this, he encourages the students to rip the first chapter from their poetry books, an act symbolic of free thinking.
The students are simply pawns for the adults around them, means to an end. Most of the parental control and actual raising of a young boy has been turned over to Walton. Bulman describes the lack of parental involvement, and Dead Poets Society seems to align with most of his
Therefore, Neil chooses to pursue his dreams, but disobey his father while I listen to my parents because I believe they know what is best for
At 1:26:37, Neil admits to feeling trapped which means he is too afraid to stand up to his father because he is afraid of disappointing him with his dreams of being an actor. At 1:38:12, when the woman tells Neil his father wants to speak to him, Neil seems terrified and nervous to speak to him. At 1:45:52, Neil wants to tell his father how he feels but freezes when he has the opportunity because the fear and anxiety of his father is shown and he doesn’t have the courage to speak his mind. At 1:43:56, Neil puts the headpiece of his costume from the play on his head because he still wants to be an actor. At 1:45:36, he was sitting at a desk with the gun on the table wrapped in a white cloth.
In Dead Poets Society, John Keating becomes the new English teacher at Welton Academy, an esteemed school rooted in tradition, after attending as a student years ago. He teaches using an unconventional style which is different from the traditional English curriculum, and in the process, he exposes the students to a new perspective on the subject and principles for living life. Keating encourages free-thinking and condemns the textbook which prevents the students from thinking for themselves. Other individuals, including the principal, Mr. Nolan, disagree with his unconventional method of teaching and prefer that he follow a traditional method of teaching through an English textbook. The lessons that Mr. Keating presents the students reflect the transcendentalist beliefs of Ralph Waldo Emerson found in “Self-reliance” and influence the students to become more independent thinkers.
The boys go through the day collecting mounds of homework, and then they enter Mr. Keating’s class. Mr. Keating walks into class and then walks out telling everyone to follow him and he explains “carpe diem” to the class. The year goes on and the boys re-establish the Dead Poets Society, a group that was dedicated to “Sucking to marrow out of life,” in an old Indian cave outside the school and have meetings there every Friday. The boys soon grow into their new beliefs, Neil gets a part in a play, and when his father finds out they get into a fight opening night Later that night, something horrible happens. The boys are scared because the administration is investigating into what happened the night before, and Cameron cracks and snitches on the boys and tells the administration that it was all Mr. Keating’s fault.
Dead Poets Society is a classic film that surveys some of the most important factors in education. Following several students and their English teacher Mr. Keating, the movie displays the importance of free thought and living a unique and bold life. Through Mr. Keating’s lessons, the students learn the importance of following what they love and resisting the authority that prevents them loving what they do. The film is mainly focused on being different and creative and societies fear of creativity and change and the consequences of this ideological battle.