Film Summary And Film Analysis: The Dead Poets Society

The movie Dead Poets Society begins on the first day of the new school year at Welton’s Boys Academy, in 1950’s New England. Among the students comes a transfer, Todd Anderson, who was expected to be as exemplary as his brother who had previously attended. Returning to the academy for another year is Neil Perry; after a summer of extra classes pushed onto him by his father. Along with the students comes John Keating; a former Welton honor student, and now Welton English teacher. Keating, however, has a unique approach to education not seen anywhere at Welton. Teaching to his students (carpe diem) self-expression and self-thought, and not Welton’s standard hard single-mindedness and conformity. The carpe diem influence placed upon the students by Keating allowed them to look beyond and have joy, leading to them re-founding the Dead Poets Society, an organization created by Keating as a Welton student. The society was a place for Keating and his societal partners to talk and read about poetry to

To overcome the restrictions placed on his life by his father, Neil Perry kills himself. Mr. Perry contacts the administration of Welton shifting blame to the Dead Poets Society. The pressure from Welton’s administration leads the Society to shift blame to Keating and his teachings. A downcast Keating returns to his classroom to pack his things after being fired, where surprisingly the Society members pay him one last token of respect before he leaves. The movie shows a vast amount of relationships between the characters, however, it shows how they shouldn’t be. Dead Poets Society shows relationships between parents and their children, however, it is far from the ideal relationship. One such example of this is the negativity and disapproval that comes with Neil and his father. Another similar example is Todd and his parents who were uninterested in