In Dead Poets Society which it takes place at Welton Academy, a former student at Welton, Mr. Keating becomes the new teacher of a poetry class. The teachings of Mr. Keating is a little different type of teaching then the traditional way of teaching. This new teaching of having fun and involving physical activity does not go well with the head master of Welton University. He thought it was a outrageous act of ripping out the pages of the literature/poetry book. The theme of the movie is that “In life things might not go the way you want them to go, you got to go out and stand up for yourself because you are the only person standing in your way.”
One way this is shown is when Neil Perry, a student attending Welton University is having trouble taking the classes he wants to take because of his father making the choices for him. Neil has his eyes opened up when he hears what Mr. Keating tells them they should stand on the tables so they can look at the world in a different perspective. Neil starts thinking after the class with Mr. Keating,” hey I should be in charge of my own life.” That’s exactly what Neil does he goes out with his friends and form a group called the Dead Poets Society.
Another time Neil shows this, is when he tells Todd, a friend of Neils, that he is going to try out for the play in town. For him to be able to be in it he has to have a letter of approval from his dad and the school. Todd thinks it’s awesome that Neil is planning on going out for the play,but asks how are you going to get it approved. Neil says “ I’m going to write my own letter of approval.” So Neil writes the paper. Then the day before the play Neil has gotten caught by his father red handed. When Neil was walking into his dorm room he sees his father sitting on his bed. Then his father stood up and said, “ Neil...I told you, you need to focus on your grades and school work, so tomorrow I want you to go back there and tell them you can’t perform.” Neil does not like this at all. So the next day Mr. Keating tells Neil that he should do the play that night. So that night Mr. Keating drives them to the theatre and they go inside and take their seats. As the play goes on Neil sees his father standing in the back and he is not a happy camper. After the play, Neils father tells him they are going home this minute. Instead of Neil telling his father that he wants to be able to make his own decisions instead of him making them for him, Neil stayed quiet and was told he was going to go to ten more years of school because of what he just did. Then later that night Neil took his fathers gun and took his own life because he thought he had no way out except to kill himself.
Then towards the end of the movie Neil’s parents blamed Neil’s death on the teachings of Mr. Keating and ordered the school to fire him. His friends were asked to give up information about why Neil would kill himself. Most of them told them what Mr. Keating has done. Like I basically what I said before “ Even when you think there is no escaping from a really bad situation, just remember there is always a way out.” So when Neil began school at Welton Academy, he was doing fine, making friends, and doing outside activities out of school. Then Neil finds a play tryout that he would love to be in and auditioned for it and got the lead part. After practicing for weeks, Neil gets his shot at fame and does a excellent job, but his father does not like it all. So later that night Neil took his life. People who have a similar life as Neil and think they don’t have any control in their life over themselves and are being controlled by friends, family, or even teachers. So they don’t think straight and think of the quickest way out of it and then next thing you know they’re dead. A lesson to be learned here is that “when the going gets tough, you got to be tougher and let nothing stand in your way.”