Dangers of Nonconformity

In the movie Dead Poets Society conformity is everywhere. The school thrives on all the students being the same and all the teachers teaching in the same old-fashioned way. The students who graduate from Welton go on to do great things and go to Ivy League schools. When Mr. Keating came, it was clear he was not like the other teachers. He did not look like the other teachers, he was not balding, and did not have gray hair. Though, his looks were just the beginning of how he was different. His teaching style was vastly different from the old and boring style of the other teachers. On the first day of his teaching, he the students rip out pages from their text books, something no other teacher would have asked them to do. The reason, because the introduction was all about how to read and score poetry, but Mr. Keating believed that poetry was from within, not something one could just read and score. Mr. Keating was trying to teacher the students to be different, and not conform to what the school and their parents wanted them to be, but it back fired on some of them.

When trying to follow Mr. Keating's advice, Neil went out and did something he really wanted to do, which trying out for a play. As it turned out, he was very good, and got the lead, but his father did not approve. Neil's father thought he should spend more time on academics, not on "silly things".  Neil did not quit the play though, and took Mr. Keating's advice to carry on with something he loved. During the performance, Neil's father came, and even though Neil was very good, his father did not see it as something that was a worth while way to spend time. When Neil's father took Neil home, his father sat him down, with Neil's mother, and said that they were taking him out of Welton. They were taking him out of Welton because his was not following orders. That night, Neil committed suicide. The school blamed Mr. Keating for Neil's death, and got the other boys who were in the Dead Poets Society to sign a paper saying that Mr. Keating encouraged them to do different things. If any of them said that they would not sign, they would have been kicked out of the school. Nonconformity has it dangerous, as shown in this movie. Mr. Keating lost his job, and Neil lost his life. If Mr. Keating had taught in the "normal" way, none of it would have happened. Though, Mr. Keating teaching in his unorthodox style, enriched the lives of the boys.