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Giang Ngo

White P7

AP Language and Composition

10 February 2020

Finding Oneself in ​Dead Poets Society

In ​Dead Poets Society, ​directed by Peter Weir, the use of contrasting ​paradigms​ aid in

showing​ that only through the self-expression and courage learned from prioritizing oneself, can

one truly become content. Within the movie, the students are stuck in a monotone setting,

repeating the same rigid structure day by day. Through Keating’s teaching, the students start to

realize their own passions and are inspired to ​carpe diem​. Thematically, with the aid of

contrasting ​paradigms​, the movie reflects how conformity only hinders the pursuit of happiness,

and by ​shedding the weight of being judged and being encouraged to become one’s self​, one will

not be held back from achieving contentment. Without the power to ​become free from

conformity, whether through one’s own flaw or through a lack of an encouraging environment,

one ​can easily​ fall into despair.

The theme can be seen through four instances scattered throughout the movie and the

juxtaposition of contrasting paradigms which reveal the characterization of two main characters:

Todd Anderson and Neil Perry. The first scene occurs towards the beginning of the movie, when

the movie has yet to present the main conflict. Mr. Keating, the new teacher introduced into

Welton Academy​, is teaching the students a lesson about perspective. He steps atop the desk,

lecturing the students as the camera is stationed from a lower perspective, presumably from the

angle of which his students view him​. After doing a spin atop the desk, he looks at the students
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and invites them up. The camera shifts to a shot of the students, and Neil Perry and Charlie

Dalton are the first ones to immediately take Mr. Keating up on the invite. The rest of the

students noticeably shift before the camera turns back to Keating. The camera angle is farther

away now, and Mr. Keating’s full body ​is in the shot​. The farther perspective allows ​the camera

to fit ​both those on the desk and those on the floor. In this shot, Todd Anderson ​stands​ in the far

back of the line to stand on the desk. As Neil and Charlie hop on the desk, Mr. Keating steps

down and the camera shifts to focus on him. The angle is higher now. The previous lower

perspective of Mr. Keating has changed due to the students being on top of the desk. Now, their

perspective of Keating has literally changed (00:43:09-00:43:44). From the short scene, three

characters can be immediately characterized with accuracy: Neil, Charlie, and Todd. ​Being

placed in the middle of the frame and drawing attention, it can be seen that both Neil and Charlie

are characterized as​ courageous and unafraid of consequences in addition to being highly

receptive to Keating’s teaching. On the contrary, Todd Anderson ​is not the focus in any of the

frames. He’s an unimportant background character in this scene, and is placed away from the

center whenever possible.​ He becomes characterized as cautious and shy. He does not

necessarily prioritize the norms of the school, nor does he become receptive to Keating’s odd

teaching style. Todd​’s main priority in the scene is to not stand out from the crowd as he is too

scared to be judged. To be singled out means to be open to ridicule and judgement. He instead

finds safety in conformity and​ only follow​s​ others’ leads. A change can be seen in the next scene

however. In the very last scene of the movie, Mr. Keating has just been fired and is on his way

out of the classroom for the final time. There is a wide shot of the classroom as Mr. Keating

makes his way around the students who are sitting down, ​as​ Mr. Nolan watch​es​ from the front of
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the classroom. Todd stands up, interrupting the student reading, and turns to face Mr. Keating.

He attempts to ​apologize​ to Mr. Keating but Mr. Nolan interrupts once again. Just before he

reaches the door, Todd takes a step onto his desk, the camera focused on his feet. Todd ​can be

seen​ from a lower angle, as he faces Mr. Keating and shouts, “O Captain My Captain.” Mr.

Keating turns around to look at the student and the camera shot changes to a wider angle of Todd

standing up. Mr. Nolan reprimands him. The other characters look at Keating and Todd, and

slowly, ​the​ students stand up and follow Todd’s example. Mr. Keating thanks the students who

stood up as they all face him. The camera is only on Todd for the last scene as he firmly stares

right into the camera (02:02:45-02:05:27). In comparison to Todd ​barely​ being ​shown on camera

in the previous scene ​mentioned​, Todd ​has​ now ​become​ the very ​focus of this scene and the

center of most of the frames. The camera focuses on Todd as he decides to take a stand.​ Though

he hesitates, not fully trusting his own judgement, Todd stands up at the very last second, before

Mr. Keating leaves and before he regrets not saying anything. ​The change in Todd’s placement

in the scenes is representative of his character development. In the previous scene, Todd was

unreceptive to Keating and consequently the camera was not focused on him. In the current

scene however, Todd has been changed by Mr. Keating. He is willing to be the center of

attention in his classroom and consequently becomes the center of attention in the scene. ​Rather

than valuing conformity and not being ostracized, Todd now values his integrity the most. ​With

the encouragement of Mr. Keating and Todd’s friends, Todd learned to throw away his fears of

being ridiculed in place of being able to communicate his feelings to Mr. Keating. If he had not,

Todd most likely would have remained with a feeling of guilt. ​Through gaining the courage to
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act upon his values ​and the push to ​carpe diem​ from Mr. Keating​, Todd was finally able to be

content with his actions as he stared firmly into the camera.

Todd Anderson was not the only student ​that attempted to seize the day. Neil Perry was

also someone who attempted to express himself through action in ​Dead Poets Society​.​ Towards

the middle of the movie, Neil plays Puck in a play. Here, the camera is close to Neil as he

watches from the wings of the stage. ​Neil’s​ side profile ​becomes​ illuminated from below as he

smiles. Neil takes a look around at the audience and when he spots something, he shrinks into the

shadows of the curtain and his face becomes crestfallen. The camera is now focused on his

father, ​Mr. Perry,​ who has just entered the theater. The scene is generally dark but his father

stands out due to being under the light. As he walks forward, the scene shifts to Neil moving

even further back into the shadows. Neil takes the stage as it is his cue (01:34:49-01:35:11). He

takes the stage alone for a monologue, the spotlight only on him and his features lit up ​brilliantly​.

He seems to make eye contact with his father as he speaks (01:36:20-1:36:31). In these scenes,

Neil’s emotions become represented by the lighting. His passion for the stage and acting brings

him great joy, and that can be seen by light illuminating him both offstage and onstage. In

contrast, distress on his face shows when he shrinks back into the shadows, his smile

disappearing as he does so. What had caused Neil to hide in the shadows was his father. Neil

fears his father, as his father strongly disapproves of the play and is very demanding of Neil. Neil

uses the shadows to hide from his father’s disappointment. The shadows are used to represent

Neil being held back. If the light represents Neil’s passion and happiness, shadows are used to

represent the lack of such, caused by his father. However, when Neil takes the spotlight again,

though he is being seen by his father, he holds his stance and confidently states his lines. The
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light gives Neil power to overcome his fears, and he is able to temporarily shed the weight of

being judged in exchange for feeling fulfilled. ​ This scene sets up parallels for the next scene.

Towards the end of the movie​, Neil’s father ​yells​ at Neil in the evening and ​tells​ him ​that​ he ​is

going to​ send him away from Welton. The first shot is of Neil’s hand placing his robe down. The

illuminated robe and crown from his play take the middle ground as his shadow is the main focus

in the background. Neil ​takes​ his shirt off and ​reaches​ for the crown, as seen in his shadow. It

then cuts to a shot of Neil walking towards a window holding the crown. He opens his window

and the angle shifts to outside the window, where the camera zooms in as Neil places the crown

of his head. The camera zooms in on his face lit up by the moon and he closes his eyes and looks

down. The shadow of the crown falls over his face (1:43:00-1:44:26). After this scene, Neil

shoots himself with a gun and his father comes in to mourn his dead body. ​In contrast to the

previous scene, shadows are the main focus here, the initial scene beginning with Neil’s shadow

cast upon the wall. Though he was illuminated, his silhouette was shown instead of his lit up

figure. The light could not clearly reflect his emotions the way the darkness did. ​Neil was

engulfed in negative emotions; anger, disappointment, and sadness, all caused by his father​ and

the darkness of the shadow perfectly emulated that. Light is given a small cameo in this scene.

As Neil walks toward the window and places the crown on his head, the light of the moon shines

on him. The light of the moon is almost akin to the light of the stage before, where Neil had felt

happy. Neil is reminiscing in this feeling, in the spotlight, in his crown, and searching for the

same passion he had felt before. As​ Neil lowers his head at the end, the shadow of the crown

falls upon​ his face. ​He failed to achieve fulfillment, and became overtaken by darkness. In

comparison to the scene before, Neil gave up so easily here. He has lost hope and in trying to
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carpe diem​, Neil ends up losing his life. His stand for himself in the previous scene is what led to

the consequences that took his life. ​Neil Perry’s situation was an extreme one. Though he had the

courage to be himself and do what he wanted, he was never given the ability to fully do so by his

parents. His parents hindered his passions, and projected their own wants onto Neil. What Neil’s

father wanted for him was the successful career of a doctor, a path that most would want to take.

But Neil wanted to take the risky path of an actor. Rather than a sure path to success, Neil

wanted to do what made him happy. Like the theme states, with his ability to do so blocked, Neil

fell into despair. Though both Todd Anderson and Neil Perry attempted to gain self-expression

and courage within themselves, only the former succeeded. Todd and Neil were two sides of the

same coin, who were on the same path with different outcomes. ​But​ because Todd ​was

encouraged​ to gain the ability and courage to be himself and Neil was not, ​Neil was left behind

and unable to be content like Todd.

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Work Cited

Dead Poets Society​. Directed by Peter Weir. Touchstone Pictures, 1989.