ENGLISH EXTRA CREDIT ESSAY (1833 words): 9th OCT 12

Examine the notion of forbidden knowledge as it relates to the film Dead Poets Society
The famous Latin phrase Carpe Diem which literally means to seize the day, influences the fast life of the 21st century where aspirations are not enough to compete the challenging world and one needs the will to work hard and sacrifice leisure for the taste of success. The film, Dead Poets Society is based on a few boys in a prominent and an aristocratic school named Welton Academy, where the teaching methods are as rigid as the system. The learning is restricted to the classroom and a specific set of books, which the students are supposed to follow blindly, whether they understand and agree or not. Therefore, forbidden knowledge, in this movie is one of the most important and significant themes, as the students are not expected to know and are not expected to have even the curiosity to know anything except their already set curriculum. Mr. Keating, the new English teacher at this conservative academy, has a completely different and an exuberant perspective of what learning is supposed to be like. He encourages his students to think differently and completely out of the box. He promotes the students to think beyond the pages of the books, and presents literature, mainly poetry in a vivid and a flamboyant manner. The rigid systems of that time, the severity of the strict societal norms were one of the most influential factors in the movie, which is based in the mid 20th century. Today, we have the freedom to choose what we want to become in our lives, we have the liberty to choose our own role models and follow their path distinctively and most of the times and our parents back us. The scenario in the early and the mid 20th century was not the same, and the idea of choosing a profession and a future for yourself wasnt as benevolent then. Children were not given the sovereignty of choice when it came to their future and career. Parents then were moreover conformists and the prestige of a profession is what mattered the most while choosing a career. Neil Perry, who came from an upper middle class family, was forced to study what he never wanted to and was being prepared by his father for his higher studies in Harvard in the field of medicine even though his passion lied in acting. His father, an orthodox, had the perception that if he and his family wanted to be respected in the society, his son would need to study medicine and become a doctor. Neil is expected to forgo his dreams and aspirations and blindly follow this whim of his father. As Neil is constantly under pressure and constantly asked to sacrifice his passion for acting, he gets frustrated and this bothers him deeply. Meanwhile, Neil gets a lead role in a play and he desperately wants to go for it and pursue his dream. Hes afraid of his father and decides against telling him about the play. Everything goes on well until the night before the play; Neils father finds out that he is in a play and immediately asks him to withdraw, not even considering the fact that his son has worked hard for it and the play is on the night after. He refuses to listen to anything and leaves Neil no choice. A broken Neil consults his English teacher, Mr. Keating. Mr. Keating explains that he needs to go against his father for once and make his realise his passion for acting, he tells Neil to talk to his father and express his love for acting to him. Neil doesnt really talk to his father and somehow manages to act in the play. After the play, as everyone is wishing him and exclaiming how good he is at acting, his father abruptly breaks him free from the crowd and takes him away. A disappointed Neil is seated in front of his parents when his dad informs him that he has been shifted to a new school where there are not many distractions of this sort, and later he has to go to Harvard and study medicine. Infuriated, he just stands up from his
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ENGLISH EXTRA CREDIT ESSAY (1833 words): 9th OCT 12

chair and tells his dad that this is not what he wants. His father, even more enraged than Neil is in that moment, asks him then what does he want to do? However, his tone is sardonic and exasperated at the same time, therefore, Neil decides not to say anything, as he knows, his opinion is not going to be considered. Later, when his parents are fast asleep, he makes a decision to be free, free of this so-called life where he cannot choose what he wants to do. He goes to down to the cellar, takes the gun, and shoots himself. Neil Perry was a member of the newly revived Dead Poets Society. He was one of the few students who had taken this initiative to understand Mr. Keatings idea (the dead poets society) of a literary club where people would sit together and recite poetry written either on their own or by a literary poet. They would enjoy the emotions portrayed in each verse and loose themselves in the harmony of the words and their hidden meaning. The Dead poets society taught each of its members to express open-heartedly and freely with no external source forcing them to feel something they didnt want to. He being a part of it never implemented it on his own life and left Mr. Keatings teachings in the classroom itself. He never dared to talk to his father about his happiness and opinion for his own career. If you dont tell him what you really want to do, you are just acting; acting to be the obedient son! Keating exclaimed to Neil when he was encouraging Neil to tell his father about what he wanted to do. According to me, Neil Perry was under a trauma and it was fair for him to commit a suicide. Neil knew something he shouldnt have known until a long period, he knew where his heart was, he knew what his passion was, and most importantly, he knew that he would never be allowed to follow his passion and never be approved to pursue his dream. This knowledge was forbidden in the society that encircled him, and he definitely couldnt bear the idea of having a burden of remorse throughout his life; which justifies the reason why he committed a suicide. According to me, the society where the rules are so inflexible, a person with a weak will is in danger at all times, not external danger but the jeopardy of self-harm. From a viewers point of view, Neils father was solely responsible for his sons death, but actually, the rigid systems of the society were the root of this incident. Hadnt the society been so brutal and strict, Neils father wouldnt be in such a mindset of family prestige and social status, thus Neil wouldnt have been forced to pursue something he didnt want to and everything would have been fine then. However, it cannot be ignored that his father also plays a major part in the mental torture and finally, the death of Neil Perry. The society doesnt blame him at all, as he merely presses the charges on Mr. Keating for having him distracted from his career path and encouraging him to pursue his passion of acting. Neil Perry is an example of a weak willed person who is based in a strict society with unbending rules and thus justifies that such a society is not safe for a person with a fragile resolve. John Keating, the English teacher had a completely different perspective of how education should be provided to the students. He thought in a practical mindset and tried to teach his students in an extraordinary manner, where they actually understood, justified and hearted whatever they learnt and not just learn something because someone in a higher authority than them told them to. While he taught literature to his students, he instilled in them the idea of Carpe Diem, as mentioned before. The students made an effort to implement this and were encouraged to seize the day and follow their hearts distinctively. Mr. Keating was aware of the stringency of the society and he
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ENGLISH EXTRA CREDIT ESSAY (1833 words): 9th OCT 12

made an effort to get these students to stand out and become better individuals in life who do not follow the orthodox means of the people. He provided his students an opening to the conduit of illicit awareness. He eliminated the possibility that not everyone is as strong to go against conventions of the society, which is very irresponsible and completely perilous for the students especially ones like Neil Perry, who are weak-willed. The movie is cleverly weaved into a series of events that lead the viewer in a continued rhythm of proceedings, thus preparing him for a highly sensitive climax. There are many characters in the movie, which stand out in their own unique way. They follow a very diverse prototype of distinctiveness as everyone has a contrasting personality, some with the society and some against it. Mr. Keating is one of the most obvious examples of peculiarity, as he aspires to cause a change the society, mainly the teaching system. Moreover, he expects his students to learn lucidly. Another example of eccentricity in the movie is Neil Perry; he goes against the wishes of his father to fulfil his desire and passion of enacting in a play. The end of the movie clearly portrays the consequences both of the mavericks face. Neil Perry ends up committing a suicide and Mr. Keating is indirectly blamed for the demise of Neil, and therefore fired. The main motive of both the writer and the director is to warn the viewers about the hazards of oddity. The writer has skilfully woven the movie into a learning experience for the audience. The director simultaneously arranges the series of happenings and the anticlimax is brilliantly illustrated, when Neils father completely ignores Neils plea (after he acts in the play) to be heard which leads to his death. Here as a viewer, one expects th e success of Mr. Keatings motive and the persuasion & realisation on Mr. Perrys part. Sadly, none of them occurs and the movie ends completely in a realistic scene where happy conclusions are not likely to happen. Dead Poets Society highlights the scenes of the 20th century orthodox society where independent thinking is not encouraged at all. It portrays the severity of the society: how the youngsters suffer under the pressure of fulfilling dreams, not theirs but their parents. To conclude, there were some factors prevailing in the society in those times which were not supposed to be known by the youth, and the knowledge of any of those factors was forbidden and if at all one possessed the same, they would face miserable consequences for the same. The consequences could be harsh and sometimes even fatal.

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