The Awakening of Neil in Dead Poet's Society

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The Awakening of Neil in Dead Poet's Society

Significant experiences are moments in life that create change not only in

one's present period of life, but also dramatically alter one's view of the

surrounding and forthcoming events. The impacts of such experiences are the

opening of new doors in life, the realization of possibilities one would have

never imagined sitting right under one's nose and the perception of details one

never thought important before. They mostly temper peoples views of events,

shedding a different hue of light upon them, revealing multiple possibilities

that were once left in shadow. In Dead Poet's society, a handful of students

discover through the exuberance of their English teacher what kinds of lives

they had been leading, and what their lives could be. One student in particular,

Neil Perry, discovers a whole new world and his life is irreversibly changed as

a result of the impact of his association with Mr. Keating.

The lives of all the boys were drastically changed the day they met Mr.

Keating. "Carpe Diem" he told them. "Seize the day, make you lives

extraordinary." With these few words, Mr. Keating opened the minds of his

students to the broad possibilities that life held for them. The boys learned

that they deserved more than the daily routine, that they were not satisfied

with living up to the expectations of others. As a result, they re-established

the Dead Poet's society, and consequently experienced what they had been

protected from previously. The most significant change wrought from both the

arrival of Mr. Keat...

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... If Mr. Keating had not have entered their lives,

there would not have been a reason for it to happen in the first place.

Neil's and Mr. Keating's messages in the movie were the identical, that one

has to stand up for what one believes in, and not living at all is better than

living someone else's life. "Make your life extraordinary." Through their

connection with Mr. Keating, the boys all discovered that living up to their own

expectations was both the hardest and most satisfying experience in life. Every

last member of the Dead Poet's Society was affected by Mr. Keating, and all of

them will carry his advice with them for the rest of their lives. Through

significant experience, one encounters change, and the impact of all this is the

new path one's life takes as a result.

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