Joshua Acampado

Dr. Frank Abrahams

Critical Pedagogy II
October 5, 2015
Social Identity Theory in Dead Poets Society

Dead Poets Society depicts a tale of how a few simple words from a teacher can
ultimately affect a students life. Too often teachers fail to recognize how much weight their
words can impact the course of a students life. Through his/her words and actions, a teacher can
possibly mold the path a student takes. A student can be discouraged from pursuing dreams and
be turned away from a study. A student can also be inspired to dedicate the rest of their life to a
subject simply due to the manner in which the teacher conveys his/her topic. Beyond just
influencing a students choice of passions, or even majors in college, a teacher has the ability to
influence a students identity through interactions in the classroom resulting in real life
consequences, both positively and negatively. Furthermore, all those who exist in the
environment, such as the students or the administration, have significant impact on a students
identity according to the Social Identity Theory. Dead Poets Society represents this ideology
throughout the film over a series of different interactions between the characters.
Dead Poets Society, set in 1959, follows the lives of four students entering their senior
year of high school at the fictional Welton preparatory boarding school. The first one the
audience is introduced to is Todd Anderson, a shy, reserved boy that is held to the expectations of
his older brother who attended the same school. Due to his brothers high success in academics,
it appears that he is afraid to express who he is and simply chooses to keep to himself at the

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beginning of the film. The next is one of Weltons top students, Neil Perry, who exudes a
leadership like quality about him while thriving in Weltons rigorous academic program. Neil
was also Todds roommate throughout the film. While the two were moving in, Neils close
friends, and consequently the rest of the supporting roles, were introduced. The group consisted
of Knox Overstreet, a hopeless romantic, Charlie Dalton, someone with a lot of creative
ambition, Richard Cameron, a student who follows everything by the books, and Neils close
friends Steven Meeks and Gerard Pitts. This group of lads then encounters a man who will
change the course of their lives in the form of John Keating, their new English teacher. With two
words, these students then begin along a journey that alters who they are. Mr. Keating states the
words carpe diem, Latin for seize the day, to his class, telling them that they need to go out
and live life to its fullest by not being hesitant of desires. Each member of the group takes these
words and views life in a different light, with the exception of Cameron, Meeks, and Pitts who
remain primarily static throughout the film. Neil takes the words to heart and pursues his passion
of acting by auditioning for and landing a major role in a local production of A Midsummer
Nights Dream, even at the disapproval of his own father. When Knox met the daughter of family
friends, he took it upon himself to pursue her to no end until she agreed to have a date with her.
Charlie changed the most radically in a negative sense after hearing Keatings words. He
renamed himself Nawanda and challenged the schools male-only admittance in a school paper,
resulting in corporal punishment.. Todd changes the most in the positive sense, because he begins
to express his own emotions and stand up for him and those he cares about, as displayed by the
end. Before the course of these events, the group discovered that Keating, who was an alumnus
of Welton, was a part of a non-school group known as Dead Poets Society. The students revive
the group and read the words of old poets and even their own compositions. The society

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reinforces and strengthens their group, also pushing them to seize the day. In the end, however,
Neils attitude to seize the day led to his suicide. After his father found out that he participated in
the play, directly disobeying his orders to quit, he made it known that Neil would no longer have
control of his life. Neil, feeling powerless and without purpose, took his life. The school covered
this death by placing all the blame on Keating and having the Dead Poets Society being the
source of Neils suicidal thoughts. After firing Keating, the teacher needed to recover his
personal belongings from the classroom, but as he was leaving, all members of the disbanded
society, excluding Cameron, stood up and saluting him, saying, Oh Captain, my Captain.
Before bridging the gap as to why Social Identity Theory is relevant to Dead Poets
Society, it would be imperative to explain the concept. This theory was proposed by Henri Tajfel
in 1979 stating that a person identifies who he/she is by which groups he/she is in (McLeod).
Within Social Identity Theory (SIT), belongs the psychological process in which an individual
identifies him/herself. The first step is categorization. The subject first categorizes him/herself
into a social category. Such examples would be race, religious beliefs, or even academic
standings such as student or teacher. Once a subject is categorized, he/she then adopts the
identity of the group, otherwise known as social identification. He/she does not typically do this
consciously; he/she simply conforms to social norms. A student fits the identity of the student by
going to class, doing homework, and being assessed. How an individual acts in their own group
affects their self-esteem and emotion significance to the group. Finally is social comparison,
where groups compare themselves to one another. This begins to be the source for competition ,
leading to intergroup conflicts and prejudices. It appears that this is the main source of
hegemonic situations, as it will be represented in Dead Poets Society. On top of the
psychological process is the idea of identity management (Lange, Krugianski, Higgins 382).

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Individual mobility is when an individual denies belonging to a certain group, and attempts to
pass off as a member of another group. Social creativity is when members of the group associate
themselves with more positive aspects rather than focusing on the negatives. For example,
members of a migrant group may state how they are well off in comparison to their country of
origin rather than in comparison to the host country. Finally, social competition is when a group
challenges the status quo through a series of actions. Examples would consist of women working
for equal wages in a male dominated work environment or members of the LGBT community
fighting for the right to marriage due to a political presence (Lange, Krugianski, Higgins 383).
Dead Poets Society is rich with examples of Social Identity Theory with regards to
identity management. The most haunting example of social competition would be Neil and his
father. Neil represents a new generation who seeks a life beyond being rich and in a traditionally
noble position such as being a lawyer or a doctor. He wishes to pursue a life of drama and acting,
even just as a hobby. His father, however, represents the group who is still stuck in the mindset
that a person should dedicate their lives to only work. Neil simply challenges the ideas of his
father by completely disregarding his fathers wishes and plays a role in the show. Neils father
has already deemed that the other group, the generation wishing to pursue free thinking and
liberal arts, as a lesser group and one that his son should not be associated with. Mr. Perry shows
extreme prejudice to this group and does not even give his son a chance to explain his actions or
his wishes. In this conflict to change the status quo, Neil ultimately loses by taking his life,
surrendering his side. As an end result, Mr. Keating is used as a scapegoat by the school to
explain his death. The administration, Mr. Nolan who is the Headmaster of the school, already
dislikes Keating for his radical thinking and teaching. While Keating wishes to raise a new
generation of critical thinkers, Nolan wishes to stay strictly to the books then move on. This is

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another example of social comparison and social competition. Keating and Nolan represents two
different groups of teachers, representing a new radical generation, and a generation set in
tradition and old ways. Keating challenges the status quo of teachers by giving his students the
means to think by themselves and not abide by the book. Unfortunately, this encourages his
students to go too far such as in the case of Neil and Charlie who has no respect to the higher
administration when he publishes an unapproved article under the Dead Poets society. Keating is
then put into a hegemonic situation as the rest of the board decides to fire him as a result of
Neils suicide.
Dead Poets Society ultimately represents the struggles between social groups constantly
trying to question the social norms. The film shows how difficult it can be, and that change
cannot happen in one grand motion. Social groups will constantly fight for power and challenge
one another because it is a battle to solidify ones identity. Dead Poets Society simply represents
how the battle to challenge the status quo will never end.

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Reference List

Lange, Paul A. M. Van., Arie W. Kruglanski, and E. Tory Higgins. "45: Social Identity Theory."
Handbook of Theories of Social Psychology. Vol. 2. Los Angeles: SAGE, 2012. 379-93.
Print.
McLeod, Saul. "Social Identity Theory." Simply Psychology. N.p., 2008. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.