Dynamic Characters In Dead Poets Society

“Dead Poet’s Society” Throughout the movie “Dead Poet’s Society” many characters change, while others do not. Those who do change are called dynamic characters and those who do not change are called static characters. The dynamic characters find themselves, and change through the help of their teacher, Mr. Keating, and due to the unfortunate event of a death of a classmate. While many of the boys change the one that changes the most is Todd Anderson. Not only do the boys change, but so do the teachers. Mr. Keating changes, but he also changes the other teachers. Mr. Keating influenced his students and his peers. Todd Anderson starts out extremely shy and timid at first. He was the new student, and he was going into the school having to follow his Valedictorian and National Merit Scholar’s brother footsteps, which is hard enough, but he also struggles with dyslexia. He is placed as Neil Perry’s roommate. Both boys receive neglect from their parents, and it helps to bond them. As the
year goes on they get very close and help each other out with confidence and standing up to their parents. After Neil commits suicide, Todd takes it hard and has to cope with the death without his backbone support which was Neil. When all the boys have to sign sheet blaming Mr. Keating for Neil’s death Todd comes out of his shell and stands up for Mr. Keating in front of his parents and the principal. He also stands up for him when Mr. Keating comes back into his classroom for the last time to gather his final belongs Todd stands up on a desk and says “O Captain! My Captain!” showing his support for Mr. Keating and other boys follow in his example showing Mr. Keating he was loved and looked up too. Mr. Keating was a former student and is now a teacher at the school. Instead of conforming to all the other teachers’ ways of teaching by lecturing and teaching right out of the book, he takes his students outside, and has them playing games and acting out of character. Mr. Keating takes them out of their comfort zones and the normal way of learning and teaches them new ways to experience learning making it fun and enjoyable. He influenced in students in such a way that they went above and beyond. He told them to seize the day, and they did. The students also changed Mr. Keating. When the boys stood up for him he started to cry and thanked them because he realized he did his job as a teacher, they looked up to him as a role model and he was able to leave happily. He taught his students with respect and to go against the “norm” and be individuals, and they respected him for that. Mr.
Keating also changes his peers around him. As being a student once, Mr. Keating was used to all the lectures and sitting in classrooms reading straight from books, a boring way to teach. He decides to teach in a different more unique way. In one of the first scenes he has his students rip the introduction out of their poetry books. While they were doing this the Latin teacher walks in thinking the students were rebelling only to find Mr. Keating encouraging it. Mr. Keating also brings his students outside to the court yard and onto the fields to teach them poetry. The Latin teacher constantly watches Mr. Keating give his unique lessons, and by the end of the movie has taken his students outside too. The Latin teacher changes from the normal way of teaching to a nonconformity way of teaching, where as many people are conforming, he unconforms. Mr. Keating teaches him too that being a free thinker is more important than being part of the
crowd. Many people changed throughout the movie “Dead Poet’s Society”, some more than others, and some not at all. Many of the boys did change throughout all the events that took place, and Todd Anderson changed the most. He went from a shy boy, to standing up for Mr. Keating and helping in his time of need, like he did for all his students. Mr. Keating helped to change all the boys and also changed himself. He also helped his peers change out of their normal ways of teaching and take a more interesting approach. Mr. Keating was an influential person to all he encountered, and changed many people.