Mr Keating Dead Poets Society

In Dead Poets Society, Mr. Keating’s teaching methods stray from the ordinary. It can be argued Mr. Keating’s unorthodox method of “seizing the day” led to the suicide of his student Neil Perry. Keating taught his students to “Make your lives extraordinary.” While this message is positive and inspirational, at Welton Academy in 1959, not everyone will appreciate it. Mr. Keating is an English teacher who inspires his students through his teaching of poetry. His lessons include standing on his desk to teach his students how they need to look at life in a different way, telling them to rip out certain pages of their poetry books, and inviting them to make up their own style of walking in a courtyard to encourage them to be individuals.
One of Keating’s students, Neil Perry, is conflicted when his father finds out that he is starring in the school play and demands that he quit on the eve of the first performance. Neil talks to Keating, who advises him to stand his ground and prove to his father that acting is something he takes seriously and may want to pursue. When Keating asks Neil the next day if he has talked to his father, Neil says that his father will
Keating, for taking Neil off the “path” that was designed for him. The headmaster of Welton Academy, Gale Nolan, leads an investigation into Neil's death, at the request of the Perry family. Eventually, Keating is fired, and Nolan takes over teaching his class. At one point, Keating interrupts the class to collect some of his things but before he leaves, one student Todd shouts that they were all forced to sign the letter that resulted in his dismissal and that Neil's death wasn't his fault. Nolan makes Keating leave, but before he can do so, Todd stands on his desk and salutes Keating with the words "O Captain! My Captain!." Over half the rest of the class does the same, despite Nolan's threats to expel them. Touched by their gesture, Keating thanks the boys and