Running Head: DEAD POETS SOCIETY CRITICAL REVIEW 1

Dead Poets Society Critical Review

Vanessa M. Trauger
Westminster Choir College
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Introduction- Carpe Diem, seize the day! In the 1950s at the Welton Academy for boys in New

England, students are required to live by the four pillars: Tradition, Honor, Discipline, and

Excellence. As the new semester begins, the pressure to achieve perfection sets on Todd

Anderson, whose brother attended Yale for law, and Neil Perry, whose father has very strict rules

on how to maintain good grades and will force him to become a doctor. In this academy,

academic traditions carry over from Latin class to mathematics class, but stop in the room of Mr.

Keating, the new English teacher. He breaks the students expectations, and teaches the boys a

very important phrase that will be the inspiration for their actions throughout the movie: Carpe

Diem. The friends Knox Overstreet, Todd Anderson, Neil Perry, Charlie Dalton, Richard

Cameron, Steven Meeks, and Gerard Pitts will seize the day as they are intrigued by their new

teacher, and recreate the Dead Poets Society that Mr. Keating was once a part of during his time

as a student in the Academy.

Ignoring the four pillars and breaking many rules, this group of friends become

freethinkers and learn a lot about themselves through the unorthodox teaching and support from

Mr. Keating. The students begin to find courage, excitement and passion in their lives. Although

tragedy strikes and the pressure from Mr. Perry overtakes Neil as he sees an unhappy future for

himself, the other boys grow and transform as they take steps of overcoming self-pity, weakness,

shyness, and insecurity. When Mr. Keating is falsely accused for inciting Neils suicide and fired

from the academy, the members of the Dead Poet Society use their new confidence and voice to

speak up and stand on their desks for the teacher that taught them so much.

Theoretical Framework- Peter McLaren states that ideology is a way of viewing the world, a

complex of ideas, various types of social practices, rituals, and representations that we tend to

accept as natural and common sense (McLauren, 2009, p. 79). It involves both beliefs and
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actions, and is used to justify certain practices and conducts against others (Swanger, 1981, p.

33). A commonly accepted Western educational ideology is that personal worth and value of

students is measured by standards of what they make of themselves, and what they can give to

society and to the world (Swanger, 1981, p. 41).

The young boys of the Welton Academy are led by the headmaster and the faculty, and

are required to believe that tradition, honor, discipline, and excellence are the principles to live

by. The strict school policies include upholding proper behavior and include not sneaking out at

night, not bringing females into the school, and not talking to loudly during studying time. There

are also expectations of how the students will learn and what they will read in their textbooks. An

example of this is when the headmaster, Mr. Gale Nolan, expected all of the boys to have read

the Understanding Poetry introduction of the English textbook. Controlling the ideas presented

to students is ideological domination (Wink, 1997, p. 87). Domination like this occurs when the

power is unequal and one groups beliefs are held over all of the others (McLauren, 2009, p. 80).

The parents, educators, and adults have a hold on ideological domination over every single

student throughout the movie. It is the Dead Poets Society that challenges the academys

ideology and rebels against the conformity that weighs on them each day.

Applying the Lens- In the beginning, viewers can immediately grasp the very core of the

dominant ideology as it is in the words displayed on the banners for the procession and

ceremony. These are the four pillars, and as the hall is packed with well-dressed, highly educated

white males, the light of knowledge candle is lit and the headmaster starts speaking about 100

years ago in 1859, when the history of the academy began. This setting of scene one establishes

the framework and background of the schools culture and philosophy. The boys are told to state

the pillars, are instructed to be the best, and are expected to attend Ivy League universities by the
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adults that surround them. They do not have control over their choices or futures, and have

become schooled and silenced. This hidden process called schooling in the educational system

is where schools impose the dominant ways of knowing on everyone (Wink, 1997, p. 82). The

boys at this institution are schooled to believe that their unique thoughts do not matter. Their

world is in black and white as they haul around heavy textbooks, enter plain classrooms, recite

Latin over and over again, and work on homework through the evening. They were schooled to

not be passionate about anything, until Mr. Keating begins teaching and brings color to his class.

Because the students are schooled to reach immediate silence when an adults enters the room,

they are perplexed when Mr. Keating whistles the 1812 overture and walks right out the door.

This is his first step in challenging the dominant ideology by refusing to conform.

Legitimation has occurred in this institution because the academys system of domination

has been sustained to be viewed as worthy of respect and legitimate. Ripping out pages in a

textbook is outrageous to the tradition, honor, discipline, and excellence that the boys are

supposed to uphold. Even though the group of friends are not sure how to receive Mr. Keatings

first lesson, as the discourse is much different from what is normal, they begin to see that they

can become freethinkers. Later at dinner, as Mr. Keating is beginning to display his non-

traditional approach to education, he is reminded by a colleague to not turn the students into

artists. This further establishes that there is a clear culture of this school where these boys are

being put on straight paths to becoming doctors, lawyers, and bankers. Passion, creativity, and art

are dead.

As the weeks go by and the Dead Poets Society is renewed, the boys discover for

themselves the strong relation between meaning and power in the world. The framework that

they have been molded into starts to break as they read and write poetry, stand on desks, and go
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outside to learn through sports and activities. Mr. Keating cares about each one of his students as

human beings, and tells Todd something inside of you is worth a great deal. Todds facial

reaction looked like he had never been told something like that. Pedagogy is not about just

teaching. It is about human interactions, students and teachers learning and teaching together,

creating new ideas, and challenging those ideas into the real world (Wink, 1997, p. 73). In these

new discoveries Knox expresses his love to Chris, Todd recites a poem in front of the class,

Charlie writes an inappropriate article as a joke, and Neil follows his true passion of acting.

The Dead Poets Society creates an oppositional ideology in attempts to shatter their

stereotypes, challenge the dominant ideologies, and find their own voice. Even though the

dominant cultures, powers, and ideology win as Mr. Keating is blamed for motivating Neils

suicide and fired from the school, there is hope for the freethinkers of the Dead Poet Society to

continue to fight domination as they say goodbye and thank you to their Captain.

Discussion- This movie sheds light on the pressure that young adolescences face in education.

Mr. Keatings ideology is that We must constantly look at things in a different way. Find your

own voice. There are two sides, the dominant and the oppositional ideology, and the boys were

stuck in the middle of deciding what to do, especially Neil. For people from ages 15-24, suicide

is the second leading cause of death, and 63% of teen suicides are white males (Teen Suicide,

2016, p. 1-2). This should be alarming to educators and parents, and Mr. Perry, the headmaster,

and the school are responsible for Neils death, not Mr. Keating.

Alice Miller wrote, Many people suffer all their lives from this oppressive feeling of

guilt, the sense of not having lived up to their parents' expectations. This feeling is stronger than

any intellectual insight they might have, that it is not a child's task or duty to satisfy his parents

needs. No argument can overcome these guilt feelings... (Miller, 2008, p.63). Mr. Perrys
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ideology and plan for Neil to achieve tradition, honor, discipline, and excellence was too much

for Neil. There is a huge danger in pressuring others to adapt and accept your ideology. Once

they find a flaw in the framework, or discover their own contrasting belief, the dominating group

can start to lose control. Neil was killed by the pressure to be someone that he could not be, and

he felt trapped.

It is vital for educators to realize the role that they have in protecting their students, and

helping them beyond the classroom walls. Mr. Keating was always encouraging to Neil in that he

should stand up for himself, follow his passion, and create a life for himself, not for his father.

Discovering that beliefs are uniquely yours and learning to think for yourself are greater than the

pillars and orthodox teaching method. Every school has a dominant ideology, and every teacher

has the opportunity to go with it, or challenge it. What the students learn can be something they

grasp onto forever, and they should never be forced to conform. Carpe Diem, seize the day is the

message for students to find in their hearts as they learn, make goals, and achieve their own

dreams.

Conclusion- As it reads on the front page of the Dead Poets Societys book, Five Centuries of

Verse, I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately...I wanted to live deep and suck

out all the marrow of life! To put to rest all that was not life...And not, when I came to die,

discovered that I had not lived... Dead Poets Society challenges the educational system to

reevaluate what is important, and what ideology students are receiving. Will knowing every

Latin root matter? Is a career in medicine better than a career in acting? The impact that a

dominant ideology has can change peoples lives. Mr. Keating says, Think for yourself. Words

and ideas can change the worldwe read and write because we are of the human racewe have
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passion. If students are encouraged to find their purpose and passion for themselves, and strive

to develop their own beliefs, they can truly change the world.
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References

McLauren, P. (2009). Critical Pedagogy: A look at the major concepts. In The Critical Pedagogy

Reader (2nd ed., pp. 69-96). New York, NY: Routledge.

Miller, A. (2008). The drama of the gifted child: the search for the true self. New York: Basic

Books.

Swanger, D. (1981). Ideology and Aesthetic Education. Journal of Aesthetic Education, 15(2),

33-44.

Wink, J. (1997). Critical pedagogy: notes from the real world (4th ed.). New York: Longman.

Teen Suicide Statistics & Facts @ Teen Help. (2016, January 27). Retrieved February 17, 2017,

from https://www.teenhelp.com/teen-suicide/teen-suicide-statistics/