Name_____________________________________ Dead Poets Society Discussion Questions

Main characters:
Neil Perry Gerald Pitts Knox Overstreet
Todd Anderson Richard Cameron Steven Meeks
Charlie Dalton John Keating Dean Nolan

1. What are the four pillars of Welton Academy?

2. Which pillars do the administration lean on and why?

3. Notice the short scene with the flock of birds. What might this scene symbolize?

4. What do the Latin words carpe diem mean?

5. What is the point of Mr. Keating’s first class with the boys?

6. According to Mr. Keating, why read poetry? Why does he have them rip pages out of their books?

7. “You may contribute a verse.” What does this mean?

8. What was the Dead Poets Society and what did they do?
9. What is the symbolism in the scene where the boys go to the cave?

10. Is Charlie too daring? Why or why not?

11. Is Mr. Keating a bad influence? Why or why not?

12. Would Neil still do what he did if Mr. Keating never came into his life? Why or why not?

13. Why didn’t Todd act the same way as Neil in the end?

14. Who was really the bravest of Keating's boys? Why?

15. In the initial screenplay, Todd specifically does not sign the paper at the end. In the movie, we are
not told one way or the other. Did Todd sign it or not? Why do you think this way?

16. Dead Poets Society: The Next Day... What happens next? What does the future hold for Keating
and the boys?