Todd Anderson And Neil Perry

Leticia Rivera Dead Poet's Society 2513.002

Film Summation

In the film, Dead Poet's Society, we are introduced with the Welton Academy for boys, set in New England during the 1950s. This Academy's main focus for their students was set in the academy's four pillars: Tradition, Honor, Discipline, and Excellence. The boys who attend this school are put through rigorous classes that are prepping their education to eventually send them off to ivy league university's such as Harvard or Yale. Although there are many students that are involved the movie tends to focus on two freshman students, Todd Anderson and his roommate, Neil Perry. Todd is a timid introvert who doesn't speak his mind willingly till the end, and Neil Perry is an extroverted boy who is unable to
express his true passions due to his father controlling every choice in his life because he is driven to make Neil become a doctor.
We think that in the beginning that Todd would be the truly depressed kid in the movie but we later find that Neil make drastic decisions that change his life forever because of his depression. The boys begin their schooling in each class, in these classes they are expected to finish large amounts of homework that is due the next day. Not surely aware of what their English teacher is like they discover that he is a new teacher that graduated from the Welton Academy himself. His name is Mr. Keating, and his liberal teaching methods had a concentration on showing the boys how to think for themselves. As the class continues to learn in Mr. Keating's class, Neil finds an old Welton Yearbook with Mr. Keating one evening. He shows the rest of the boys this yearbook and finds that Mr. Keating was in a club called the “Dead Poet's Society.” The boys decide to ask Mr. Keating what this was and he told them that it was a secret club where they recite poetry to each other in a cave less than a mile from the school grounds, the purpose of this club was to take meaning out of life. Neil and the boys end up
starting the Dead Poet's Society once again. These meeting give the boys a strong bond. Neil's craving for individuality from his father begins to grow as he is learning to not conform from Mr. Keating's class and fro his friendships with the boys he has bonded with. Neil decides to try out in a play called “A Midsummer Nights Dream,” without his father's approval. He gets the lead role, unfortunately his father found out that he tried out for this play and tells Neil that he cannot act in the play the day before the play opens. Disregarding his father's wishes Neil decides to act in the play on opening night. His father found out and took him home after he finished his play. He tells Neil that he will be going to military school for not listening to him and will stay there until he reaches college. Once Neil's parents fall asleep Neil decides to use a gun to kill himself. His dad hears the noise and Neil's parents were looking around the house to figure out what the noise was and where Neil went, to discover that Neil is dead. Neil's father feels that the reason for his son's death is Mr. Keating's teachings and not the possible depression he had because of the way he treated him.. He tells the Headmaster to launch a investigation as to what Mr. Keating is teaching to his class. The day after Neil's death everyone is asked about the Dead Poet's Society and eventually one of the boys spills all the details as to what happens in the club and who is in it. The Headmaster brings all the Dead Poet's Society's parents into an office with each member individually and forces the kids to sign a document the blames Mr. Keating for abusing his authority. Mr. Keatings is fired, later going to pick up a last of his belongings from his old class Todd the once quiet and timid student shouts to Mr. Keating what had happened to the students and how they were forced to sign the document that got him fired. This was against what their substitute wanted, he was shouting at Todd to stay quiet but Todd continued to speak to Mr. Keating and the majority of the boys joined him leaving Mr. Keating to know that his teachings were not useless.