We are the Captain of our Own Ship: A Reflection Paper on Dead Poets Society

By Winter Kyle R. Dizon

"Oh captain, my captain." A mere silly utter to someone oblivious, but a sound of revolt
to people who are awakened from reality. The 1989 Dead Poets Society is an ever-blooming
tree fruitful of morals the youth can feast upon. It is a movie that will alter one's vision of
friendship, the education system, learning, teaching, dreams, society, and one's holistic view of
life. A lot of profound words are used in the movie, words incomprehensible to today's youth's
ears however knowing the meaning of every keen word said is not necessary but the ideals the
movie is trying to evoke are.

The two-hour movie is revolving around high school boys studying in a prestigious
stringent school, The Wellington. The high school boys are named: Neil Perry, Todd Anderson,
Charlie Danton, Knox Overstreet, Richard Cameron, Steven Meeks, and Gerard Pitts. From the
beginning, it was conveyed how strict the educational system of Wellington was. Showing the
four pillars of the school which are tradition, honor, discipline, and excellence, which was then
later on mocked by Neil implying how fed up they are with the rigid school. This is the most
common flaw in the education system, the school, and the teachers put more value on grades,
recognition, looking righteous, and overly obedient, but give little regard to the student's
feelings and emotions, wants, dreams, and everything that truly matters. Most only care about
how the student will look in front of others but all of those are only facades. Only a few truly
teach the students how to be compassionate, to have courage, to be resistant to any challenges
thrown their way, to live their life, and to be truly successful, not just wealthy but successful in
their own terms.

Then a montage of the main characters attending their boring classes as they normally
would is shown, but that is about to change. When they get to English class expecting another
monotonous class about poetry, their unconventional teacher, Mr. John Keating arrives and
invited them to the hall where photos of past outstanding students and their awards are
displayed. He then mentioned the quote "Carpe diem." which he explained means "seize the
day." That this is the phrase that the past students of the school are whispering to them, to
seize their day. This scene is conveying that when we only focus on the narrow part of life, we
spend our time, and all our energy chasing excellence and wanting to be the best, then we
missed the moment, we missed a day we could have lived to the fullest, we missed the life we
could be enjoying. This scene is not implying that we disregard our studies but conveys that
learning and school can be adventurous and that it should not be always reading and
memorizing, it can also be learning beyond the four corners of a classroom. It should not take
up all our time and we should have time to enjoy our youth.

At first the main characters view Mr. Keating as rather odd, since his teachings are done
in unconventional ways. He continues to inspire them in the preceding scenes. There is this
scene where they were reading the definition of Poetry that is described in a mathematical
term, Mr. Keating expresses that creating a poem cannot be measured or limited, because
when we measure it the meaning is lost. He said that writing poem is not for aesthetic but
because it awakens the passion in us, a passion essential in our pursuit of our dreams. For me
poetry in this film symbolizes life, what Mr. Keating implied is that when we measure life, when
we limit it, it loses its meaning. That poem should flow freely, hence, or life should be freely
lived. This scene also expresses how not all knowledge is acquired in textbooks, that true
education is obtained beyond the pages. Because like a shark put into a small tank, the shark
will grow to its full size, like a person conformed in a box, they will not grow to their full
potential. Another scene that left me in awe is when Mr. Keating stood above the teacher’s
table and mentioned how things looked different from that view, then expressing that one
should look into different standpoint in order to view life in different angle. People specially the
youth should open their mind to wide range of ideas apart from theirs. By considering only our
own sight will leave us seeing only the shallow surface of the world. In order to fully experience
life, one should wear different shoes.

Sending wise messages like these, Mr. Keating inspired the main characters. Neil found
Mr. Keating’s year book from his time and saw that he was a member of an unheard club, the
“Dead Poets Society”, Neil ask Mr. Keating about it and Mr. Keating said that the club went to a
secret cave to write a poem to each other, and Neil found it boring until Mr. Keating explained
that the club did not just read poem mindlessly, he enthusiastically uses the phrase “sucking
out the marrow out of life” saying that the club is dedicated to making the best out of their
lives, “letting poems drip from their tongue like honey”, “spirits soared”, “women swoon”, and
“God’s were created,” flowering words that described the objective of the Dead Poet Society.
These words are superficial in their own but signifies great passion coming from Mr. Keating.
This scene for me symbolizes how one can be passionate when they do what they seek the
most. Mr. Keating’s description of the club inspired Neil into reliving the Dead Poets Society
with his friends. That night they snuck out and went to a secret cave, there they read poems,
unwind and just pause from reality of the responsibilities they shoulder from their parents and
society’s expectation of them. This cave and the club became the main characters’ safe haven,
the poems they read influenced their lives. Once in their lives they decided for themselves, to
live their lives, to be free thinkers. Neil pursued his dream of acting despite his father
disapproving, Knox took the chance and confessed to the girl she liked even if she has a jerk of a
boyfriend, and Charlie played her heart through the saxophone. Mr. Keating’s teaching was
engraved in their minds.

The scene that altered my brain chemistry is when Mr. Keating let his students march in
the yard. At first it seems like a mockery, later on he explained how when we are placed with
others we crave to fit. Just like how they are marching, at first, they started in different ways
and eventually they march in unison. Which is true, when the majority agreed on something,
we accept that it is the right, so we follow them even though we have our own mind. We
always conform to society’s standard. Mr. Keating explains that we do this subconsciously, that
is it a challenge to maintain our own beliefs in front of others. However, we should stand firm
behind our own values and principles even though others will disagree, might think they are
wrong, or silly. We must not let others destroy the uniqueness in ourselves. I greatly relate to
this notion, ever since I was a kid, I was a peculiar girl, naturally nonconforming. My mind
scares a lot of people, often called abnormal for my ideas and perceptions. Growing up I try
hard to fit in, but I eventually realized that like a Tetris when we try to fit in, we disappear. Now,
a lot still hates me for the values I always fight for, values many does not agree with, but I stand
by them. But Mr. Keating also made me realized something, that not all the time we need to
start a revolution, we must know when to fight and when to back down. It is implied in this
scene where Charlie create a stunt where he contempt the head of Wellington, Mr. Nolan, by
pretending that God called and requesting that Wellington should accept girls. Because of this
stunt, everything starts to go down. The identity of the Dead Poets Society was put into risk of
being revealed. Mr. Nolan forcefully ask Charlie about the club but he stand firm and did not
snitched on his friends.

Fast-forward to the moment where Neil’s father found out about his acting business and
demanded that he stops it at once. Since the beginning of the film, Neil’s father is portrayed as
a strict parent, he maneuvers Neil’s life saying that it is for his sake but in reality, he is just
projecting his dreams into his son. This is one of the toxic tradition of Filipinos, using their kids
as investment, burdening them with the dreams the once had but did not have the chance to
achieve, so they manipulate their children to achieve those dreams for them. Neil cried when
he was comforted by Mr. Keating. Mr. Keating suggested that maybe if Neil speak his heart out
about acting, maybe his father will understand and give him a chance, but Neil strongly said
that his father would never understand that he is stuck, but Mr. Keating disagree, implying that
we are never really stuck, we are just afraid to speak out and that we never get free from the
prison we put ourselves because of our fear. The next day, Mr. Keating ask if Neil ask his father,
Neil with tense look said that he did, but I have a feeling that this is a lie. The play started and
Neil was doing very good and then he saw his father in the stadium, he was nervous. After the
play, his father scolded him for defying him, which gave me the sense that he did not really ask
for his father’s permission for the play. Out of anger, his father said that he will be dropping out
from Wellington and he will be joining the military and will be a doctor, but Neil opposes saying
that, that’s going to take ten years of his life, protesting that his father never really listen to his
feelings, but when his father ask what Neil feels, he only pause, and the look in his face conveys
that even if he really said what his desires and feelings his father will never really consider it, he
end up just mumbling the word “nothing.” Her mother was visibly worried as if she senses that
it will not end well for Neil. They went to bed, but Neil was wide awake as if he was not in his
body. The silence in this scene as deafening, I have a feeling this will end with someone’s death,
and I was right. Neil killed himself. For what I think, it is because he cannot bear to live a life he
never wanted. I think this is the same in real world, when we live the life we do not
passionately want to live, we kill a part of ourselves, not literally, but a fragment of our true self
die. We only truly live when we live with all our might.

This film teaches a lot of valuable lessons that can alter one’s vision in life. Mr. Keating
served a significant part in changing the lives of the main characters. He left a virtuous
impression to his student. And I think everyone should have a teacher like him, a teacher who
teach students not what to think but how to think for themselves. Because when we are taught
to think for ourselves, we go beyond the box, beyond what is the norm, we can survive the real
world outside the classroom. And even if we did not have this kind of teacher, then we can be
that teacher.