Dead Poets Society - The Message of the Dead Poets Essay -- Movie Film

Dead Poets Society - The Message of the Dead Poets    Teachers are wonderful heroes. In the movie, Dead Poets Society the teacher/hero is John Keating, played magnificently by Robin Williams. The film takes place at a small preparatory boys' school (Welton Academy) in the late 1950's. The story follows the lives of a group of students and the way that Mr. Keating's teachings influence them. He encourages the boys to become freethinkers and to live life for the moment. The message hallowed by Keating is one of mortality--do not waste your life, for you will get no other, and when you are "food for worms" will the world have been a better place because you were in it? This message is prevalent throughout the film. Keating brings to the abnormally strict classroom something that the timid boys have never seen, enthusiasm. On the first day of class, he tells his students to rip the boring and scientific-type preface from their books. The act in itself is one of defiance and is but one action that draws the boys to Keating. The friendly good nature of Keating leads ...