Self Discovery In Dead Poets Society

The Dead Poets Society teaches students to seize the day, live their lives, and most of all enjoy poetry. In this movie, some of the boys go through changes in their personalities. The other boys don’t change though. It’s interesting to see how each character takes this in different ways throughout the movie. Mr. Keating leads the boys in a journey of self discovery. He tells them that all of the men in the photos on the walls were, at one time, just like them. They were students in school, and decided to seize the day and make something of their lives. This spawns Neil to restart the Dead Poets Society, just like Mr. Keating had done when he was at Welton. Mr. Keating is a new teacher at Welton and he was once a former student. He tries to
spawn in new life in the students of his class. He inspires them to enjoy reading poetry and literature, while teaching them to “Seize the day” and restart his old club. He wants them to take looks at life through different perspectives than their usual. He tells Charlie Dalton that he supports him rebelling and going against norms that society has tried to teach them. He is unfortunately blamed by both Welton and Mr. Perry for the death of Neil, even though Mr. Perry is responsible for it by controlling Neil’s life to the point where Neil was no longer happy. Neil’s entire life is controlled by his father.
He wants Neil to be a doctor and to drop all of his activities at Welton except for the ones he decides his son will take. Neil at school is incredibly popular with everyone. He’s sporty, smart, and the clear leader of his group of friends. Unfortunately, in spite of all of this, Neil is miserable because of his father. Neil has no passion to become a doctor, but is forced to pursue this career. When he talks to Mr. Keating, he’s inspired to act in the play at school. Mr. Keating is quick to see through the smokescreen that Neil has put up, saying his father is alright with him acting in the play. He acts in the play, which his father attends, and he is forbidden from the theatre by his father. Mr. Keating is stunned by Mr. Perry’s decision because of Neil’s great performance as Puck in Midsummer Night’s Dream. Neil then commits suicide because Mr. Perry gives him no say in his future. Neil goes through a dramatic change after joining the Dead Poets Society. He steps out of his father’s shadow and control, and he decides that he will be the architect of his own future. He becomes his own man when he acts in the play and is finally happy and in his element. He kills himself because of his father’s control. Mr. Keating is blamed for the death of Neil by Mr.
Perry. Todd Anderson is the new student at Welton and is Neil’s roommate. Todd has a problem with his parents, just like Neil, but his problem is the opposite of Neil’s. His parents expect absolutely nothing from him and could care less about him. His parents adore his brother, the valedictorian of his class, and they aren’t shy about telling him so. He’s very shy because of this home life and of being a new student at Welton, which is a stark contrast to Neil who is very outgoing and popular. Mr. Keating makes a change in his life and as the movie goes on, he becomes much more confident in himself, becoming more outgoing like Neil. Charlie Dalton is another one of the students at Welton. His personality is very rebellious, by far the most rebellious of the group. He used his poem to try to seduce two girls that he brought to the Dead Poets Society. He then decides to write a newspaper article saying that girls should now be accepted at Welton, then he pranks the administration by then pretending to get a phone call from God saying that He completely supports this idea. Charlie is very loyal to all of his friends. He refuses to betray any of them even during a beating with a paddle and after being expelled out of his loyalty to Mr. Keating. This is Charlie’s development by the end of the story. Steven Meeks is one of the characters that do not change throughout the story.
He is an incredibly smart student, by far the smartest of the Dead Poets Society. He tutors Charlie in almost every single class and is very good at Latin. He is a minor character for the most part and, like stated before, does not change in the movie. As the paper says, some of the boys in the Dead Poets Society change like Charlie, Todd, and Neil, but other characters don’t, like Steven Meeks. Mr. Keating changed the lives of his students by making them enjoy, not only writing, poetry, and literature, but to also enjoy life and to see things differently than they normally would. He is unfortunately fired after being blamed for Neil’s death. His students for the most part stay loyal to him, especially Charlie Dalton, who is beaten with a paddle and expelled or his loyalty to Mr. Keating. Todd’s confidence grew exponentially by the
end.