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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