The film Dead Poets Society greatly explores overcoming of authority and finding one’s identity. The conflicts the characters face thoroughly demonstrates the significant principles of individualism and freedom. Neil Perry’s inability to overcome his father’s authority led to suicide which was the only way he could see to take control of his life. Todd Anderson incapability to speak in front of others was overcame towards the end of the film by some experiments conducted by their English teacher, Mr Keating.
He was the first to stand on a table when paying respects to Mr Keating and was the only character to understand what Mr Keating meant by a man’s life being run by passion. Knox Overstreet became obsessed with a girl named Chris after meeting her only once and ends up defying authority and risking his relationship with his family by trying to win her heart. In all cases, the characters begin to gain individual authority through their choices; they begin to overcome the adversity in their lives. Individuality is very evident when Neil Perry decides to undertake a career in performing arts, in secret, rather than medicine.
The new wave of freedom and independence made Neil feel empowered, however, when his father finds out about how Neil lied to him, Mr Perry is livid. He is impassive about Neil’s incredible performance in the play A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Mr Perry continues to maintain control his son’s life and keeps a watchful eye on his every move. Although, what Mr Perry tries to do is not worth it as Neil had already experienced freedom. Neil eventually overcomes his fear and tries to confront his father, but is unable to communicate his opinions o the increasingly traditional figure that his father is becoming.
Neil then made a very drastic decision and thinks instead of living a dull half-life, committing suicide is the only way to gain control. Though Neil lost everything in the process of this, suicide was the only way for Neil to stand up to his father and live life to the fullest. This supports the phrase the boys were living by: “Carpe Diem”“. Through the act of suicide, Neil was taking control of his life decisions and by this decision, he accepted the consequences.
Neil Perry made a free decision and his actions were a necessary step in his process of self-discovery and overcome the adversity in his life. Todd Anderson is the only character who fundamentally developed throughout the film and gained individuality. At the beginning of the film, Todd is very quiet. He is the youngest in his family and has many expectations put upon him because of the success of his brother, who also went to the elite prep school the boys went to. Todd is also very shy. He can’t speak to anyone who has authority, including Mr Keating, without sounding uncertain.
When the boys gather together in the cave as the Dead Poet Society, Todd is more of an observer rather than a contributor. He is afraid to read aloud and to participate in anything being done in the Dead Poets Society. He also obeys authority towards the beginning of the film, as he opposes Neil lying to his father and the school about his participating in the performing arts. Todd’s worst fear is that his life has no meaning and nothing to contribute. Mr Keating asks the class to write a poem and Todd never finishes the assignment.
Mr Keating sees through his fear and makes him yawp, and later makes him say whatever comes to mind. This is the beginning of the change in Todd. This passion of his overtakes the adversity of his character shell and enabled him to open up to the world around him, gaining individualism. Knox Overstreet recognises the vital importance of individualism when he became obsessed with Chris, a girl whom he’s only met once in person. Knox decides to risk his relationship with his family by standing up to Chet, Chris’s boyfriend, by romantically attempting to win Chris’ heart.
This sort of decision allowed him to go against the rules set by his family. Chris is practically engaged to Chet, and Knox trying to win her heart would violate everything Knox and Chet’s family shared. He disobeyed authority and managed to win the heart of the girl. Chris goes with him to the play that Neil stars in and even holds his hand. In a sense, Knox has succeeded against authority as he has prevailed against the authority figure, Chris’s boyfriend Chet. Overstreet’s experience proves that authority should act as a guide, not as a power.
Knox’s passion was Chris and he overcame the adversity of her boyfriend in order to win her heart, prying away from the one way street, finding his identity in the process. The Dead Poets Society’s characters deal with several situations where they are able to act as an individual rather than following conformity. The characters display this reckless behaviour when defying conventional authority. In the case of Todd and Knox, these conflicts brought positive outcomes for the characters, as Knox won the heart of his love, Chris, and Todd grew out of his shyness and started to open up to the characters and passions around him.
However, in the case of Neil, such outbursts of individualism had fatal consequences for him, as he believed suicide was his only option to take control of his life. These characters experienced a sense of self-discovery and finding themselves as individuals, after being granted freedom in the Dead Poets Society. The three boy’s broke away from conformity and were all opposing to the authority figures in their lives, overcoming adversity and finding their individuality.
