Character Analysis: Dead Poets Society

In the movie “Dead Poets Society”, Mr. Keating is considered the typical American Romantic hero. The movie is set in the late 1950’s, at an all-boys boarding school. Keating is the youngest person that teaches at the school which gives him youthful qualities when compared to the other teachers, he has knowledge of people and life based on deep, intuitive understanding, and he places faith in inner experience and the power of imagination. First, Keating is very young and more outgoing than the other teachers. Right from the beginning you can tell that Keating is going to be different from the other teachers. He is younger than his co-workers by years, even decades! The way he teaches also shows his youthfulness. Compared to the other teachers his teaching methods are unorthodox and frowned upon by the school. The kids love it though. Next, his knowledge of people and life isn’t based on formal learning. The first lesson he teaches the kids in the movie isn’t about English class at all, but life. He tells them to Carpe Diem (seize the day) and make the most out of your life because you never know when it is going to end. In another scene he is teaching his class outside in the courtyard. He tells 3 kids to start walking in a line around the courtyard. He then points out that all of them were walking in a different fashion but they ended getting to the same place at the end. Finally, Keating tells the kids to rely on experience and imagination. Keating gets Todd to come out of his shell in one classroom scene by telling him to read his poem he has. Todd doesn’t have one written down so Keating tells him to come up with a poem right on the spot. He ignites Todd’s imagination by getting him to talk about Walt Whitman and what the first thing that comes to Todd’s mind when he thinks of Whitman. Keating also helps to inspire the kids to make a club called The Dead Poets Society. That’s where the boys talk about poems and make up and tell their own poems. In