Dead Poets Society And Carpe Diem

In 1838, a man named Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote a poem called “A Psalm of Life.” Little did he know that over 150 years later a movie would visually capture the essence of his poem: Carpe Diem. In Dead Poets Society, the characters take on what it means seize the day but all react differently to the outcome. Although these two definitions of Carpe Diem differ, they both show what it truly means to seize the day. From the new shy guy to everyone’s best friend, Todd Anderson supports the theme of Carpe Diem throughout the movie. When a main character commits suicide his teacher is blamed for it. The teacher is in turn fired and when he comes into the class with all his students to get his personal things Todd feels he must say something.
He is madly in love with a girl he has only met once and will do anything to get her even though she had a boyfriend who was on the high school football team. Knox talks about Chris like she’s an angel saying, “The heavens made a girl named Chris. With hair and skin of gold. To touch her would be paradise” (DPS) Clearly Knox is obsessed with Chris and would do anything to get her. Know knew that he didn’t have a lot of time to get Chris so he had to seize the day. He wrote her a poem and read it to her in front of the class even though she had already turned him down. This relates to “A Psalm of Life” because it says, “Art is long, and Time is fleeting,/ And our hearts, though stout and brave,/ Still, like muffled drums, are beating/ Funeral marches to the grave” (13-16). Knox knows he doesn’t have a lot of time to get Chris because she might get married. But because life is short and time is fleeting. Knox knows that if he doesn’t seize the day and act quickly he will never be able to be with Chris. Knox has a heart that is stout and brave just like the poem. Knox’s idea of Carpe Diem is throwing himself into romance but who’s to say that that’s not exactly what Carpe Diem is: throwing yourself into something you love and hoping it