Symbolism In Dead Poets Society

The culture the boys in Dead Poets’ Society grow up in is rife with claustrophobic norms and expectations. One gets the sense that the boys have learned helplessness with regard to their ability to think for themselves and be independent. Though they possess the ability to have initiative and independent will, their society has molded them into thinking they have the freewill of an infant. This learned thought process is only broken with the introduction of a new English teacher, Mr. Keating, who instills the romantic ideals of freedom, individuality, and creativity. It is only through Mr. Keating’s introduction that the boys are able to break through their intellectual chains and think for themselves. Despite Mr. Keating’s help, some of the boys are more inclined than others to take up his world view.
As any good first scene should, the opening scene of Dead Poets’ Society immediately sets the scene for the rest of the movie and serves to

The most prominent of these is the recurrence of flocks of birds during the cutscenes of the movie. The birds, though at first they seem to be romantic as a result of being the subject of so many romantic writers’ poetry, due to their obsession with nature, as well as the overused metaphor drawn between flight and freedom, they actually represent the lack of individuality subjected on the boys. The birds are almost always shown in great flocks, moving as one entity with very little distinction between each individual bird. This clearly represents the mindless obedience the boys are expected to have. As the boys progress and take up some of Mr. Keating’s romantic ideals, they can often be seen scattering the birds by running into them, forcing the birds to make individualized choices. The most picturesque of these scenes occurs as Knox scatters the birds as he rides his bike over to Chris’