More Dead Poet Society Question Answers...

1. The most influential leader I have ever had was God. He had such an influence on me, because it is because of him that I am alive, and I base my whole life on him.

2. I think that John meant that we read poetry because we feel something inside of us. I do agree with him, that we all read poetry because we have emotional connections to what is being said, not necessarily because it is cute.

3. I do agree with Keating’s second quote, that in order to understand something (especially from someone else) we have to see from their perspective.

4. I think that professor Keating told his students to “contribute a verse,” because he wanted them to find a life motto on their own. He means for the boys to all contribute a line about what life means. I think that my ‘verse’ to the world is “let everything you do be for the glory of God.”

More Dead Poet Society Question Answers

1.  I do think that Neil would have committed suicide whether or not Mr. Keating was his teacher, because either way, he would have stumbled  upon the flyer for the play and gone through with it. It was essentially the conflict the play created that led to Neil’s death, not Mr. Keating’s teaching style. However, Neil might not have chosen to do the play if he had not been given the courage to do so, and what helped him was “Carpe Diem.” “Carpe Diem” was one of the main themes of the movie.

2. I think the bravest of all the dead poets was Todd, because he had been living his whole life in the shadows and unnoticed, so he grew very nervous and frightful when any attention was called on him. Then, in the last scene of the movie, he stood up on the desk to show Mr. Keating that he did learn from him about life, and that the paper the boys signed was false. Even though he stood up too late to save his teacher, he stood up in time to save himself. The coward was Neil, because he decided to not face his problems and just end his life, taking the ‘easy way out.’ A coward runs and hides, but a brave person faces his fear head on, and changes his life himself.

3. When I was watching the movie, I actually thought that Neil had found the poetry book when he found Mr. Keating’s yearbook, and decided to use it during the “Dead Poet’s Society” meetings. I do not think that Mr. Keating would look back on that time (when he had already told Neil to burn his yearbook) of adolescence, sneaked into one of the boys’ dorm rooms, and left them a little ‘gift.’ Also, at the end of the movie, after Neil’s death, Mr Keating was looking at the poetry book found in Neil’s desk, and seemed to be surprised and reminiscing.

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In the Dead Poet’s Society there are several challenges shown throughout the course of the movie. I think that the obvious theme of the movie is to beware of conforming, and be your own person. A few characters who helped illustrate this main point include Mr. Keating, Neil Perry, Todd Anderson, and Charlie (Nwanda) Dalton. Mr. Keating wanted his students to know that life was more than just getting an education and pursuing a career that made them successful and gave them money. Life is about so much more, and he wanted his students to understand that. He also wanted them to appreciate poetry (which was appropriate considering that he was the poetry teacher) but he did it in a very unique way. One of the activities that he had his students do was to walk around a courtyard, but to their own step. He was showing them that when they write and read poetry, it means something special to them, and it should be unique. He also wanted them to learn that in life, sometimes you have to be your own person, and not conform. Neil Perry’s story is very tragic, and can leave a lasting impact. His passion was acting, but his father felt that if his son pursued that passion he would be throwing his life away, so he told him that he was sending Neil to military school. Neil was so grief stricken, and he thought that the only way out of his future life of torture was death. He was so afraid to conform to his father’s ideas of his future that it literally killed him. Todd was my favorite character and, I think, the most influential. He stood up for what was right, even though it scared him to death (figuratively). Charlie was also afraid of conforming, but not to the detrimental extreme of Neil’s fear. He just wanted to make sure that he was uniquely different, which is one of the reasons why he ‘changed his name’ to Nwanda.  

Post-Viewing Activities: Follow Up Character Questions

1. I think that the character Todd changed and developed the most in this film, because at the beginning he was very shy and reserved and towards the end, he took a big stand for his teacher. At first, he did not want to hang out with Neil and the rest of the boys in the group, but they roped him in anyways. Then, he was so scared of reading poetry out loud, that he refused to do so in the Dead Poet's Society meetings, and even neglected an assignment in order to get out of reading poetry. However, his teacher, Mr. Keating, had Todd come up with a poem in the spot, which started his 'coming out of his shell,' and the love that he had for his teacher. Also, Neil's suicide made Todd want to do the right thing more than ever, because he knew the real reason for his friend and roommates death.

2. One of the static characters is the boy's principal, because he is just as intent on controlling the boys and what they learned in the end of the movie as he is during the beginning. Another static character is Neil's father, because he did not accept the fact that it was his decisions which made his "precious son" kill himself, he placed the blame on Mr. Keating, the different teacher. He never owned up to what his actions meant to his son, and thought the same way as he had before.

3. Mr. Keating is the kind of character that makes the people around him want more for their lives. He encouraged his students to not necessarily resist conformity, but find what 'they' wanted to do in life. He wanted the best for his students and thought it necessary that all of the boys learn what made each of them happy, and wanted them to find out their own meaning to life. I think that he might have been slightly changed by Neil's suicide and what people will do in order to place blame they feel they do not deserve.

4. Todd Anderson overcame his fear of being noticed and the center of attention. He was uncomfortable when a teacher asked a question for fear of getting it wrong, and being ostracized. Due to several events described in the previous questions, he was able to break out of his shell, and stand up for what was right.
Neil Perry's fear was that he would go through his whole life doing something that made him unhappy, just because that is what his father wanted him to do. Unfortunately, he did not overcome his fear, because he thought he could escape his looming fate by committing suicide, which not be the conclusion or resolution to anything.
Knox Overstreet's fear was that he would let the girl of his dreams that he knew would make him happy get away from him just because she was dating another guy at the time. The movie really ended his conflict when Neil killed himself, but I think that they might actually have had a relationship after the play.
Charlie (Nwanda) Dalton's fear was that he would conform, and become like everyone else. He, I think, realized towards the end to the movie, that standing up for what you believe in and being stupid about it is a line which he crossed.

Two Questions

1. Discuss the role(s) of women in the 1950s as portrayed in the movie. How are they different from the view of Katherine Watson?

Women in the 1950's were very domestic and submissive. If a woman was not married by the time she was out of college, then she was considered to be an old maid. They were supposed to cook and clean and take care of the children, and make sure their husband had all that he needed. And divorce was out of the question. Even if your husband beat you, you still stayed with him. People would look down on women in society who were in their thirties and not married, and those who had been divorced. Katherine Watson thought how many women think today. How people are people, and women can take care of themselves. She did not think that marriage was bad, but at such an early age and for the wrong reasons, she opposed it. 

1. Katherine Watson was said to be "subversive". What is your understanding of this term?

My understanding of the word "subversive" is trying to get rid of a disagreeable system or leadership, and change it to your own idea of what it should be. In this case, Katherine Watson was trying to make her authority and students understand the true roles of women. She successfully was able to make the girls understand her passion, but not the board of the school.