Individualism: Dead Poets Society. By: Laurie Xiao

One of the main conflicts throughout the Dead Poets Society is individualism v.s. conformity. The film takes place at Welton Academy, which is a very prestigious all boys prep school. At the school conformity and discipline is highly stressed, and there is a lacking of any creativity and voice. All the boys seem to say are "yes sir", and "no sir". That is, until Mr. Keating arrives at the school and begins to teach the English class. Mr. Keating has a very orthodox view on teaching, and is exciting and inspiring. Through poetry, he encourages the boys to "seize the day", and inspires them to be free thinking individuals. One specific group of boys become especially inspired and rekindle the Dead Poet Society. The group includes Neil Perry, Knox Overstreet, Charlie Dalton, Gerard Pitts, Todd Anderson, Steven Meeks, and Richard Cameron. Each of the boys deal with some sort of oppressing power in their life that forces them to conform. However out of all the boys, Neil seems to struggle with it the most, and provides a perfect example of the conflict between individualism and conformity. Neil's father is extremely not tolerant, and doesn't seem to care about anything that Neil feels. Neil's life is already completely planned out by Mr. Perry. Mr. Perry believes that he is doing what is best for his son, when in reality, he causes his son's suicide. Neil is an extremely bright and charismatic boy who has a passion for acting. However that clashes with his father's wishes. Neil is extremely inspired by Mr. Keating and decides to audition for a play. He ends up getting the lead part. Neil continues to perform in the play even though his father forbid him to. Mr. Perry attends the play and sees his son going against his word and becomes furious because he believes that acting is a immature whim that will ruin Neil's chances of becoming rich and successful. So Mr. Perry decides that he will withdraw Neil from Welton, and enroll him into a military boarding school where he will continue to Harvard University. Neil realizes that no matter what he did or wished, his father will always have him caged and will always have his entire life planned out. Neil sees no escape or light at the end of the tunnel, so he commits suicide. This oppression makes me extremely sad because Neil had such a bright future ahead of him, but the inhibition of his voice and views lead him to see no future. Or at least no happy future. Neil's story makes me so sad because Neil was such a wonderful person who just had such a positive energy. He had a lot of potential and talent, and he never got to bloom to his full potential because of his overbearing father. Neil's tragic death shows exactly how important it is to be an individual, and to do what make you happy without worrying about conforming to society.  

I believe that individualism is extremely important because it allows you to be different and special. It also allows you to express who you truly are. It allows you to contribute something new and inspiring to society instead of just blending in with the crowd. Mr. Keating quotes a line from the poem "Oh Me! Oh Life!" by Walt Whitman. He recites "That the powerful play goes on, and you will contribute a verse." to his students, basically saying that life will go on, and that you will contribute something to this world, so you might as well make it something important and unique. If everyone were to conform to society like Mr. Perry and the other teachers at Welton so encouraged, then nothing innovative would ever occur. All the great discoveries and inventions have all risen from the powerful force of individualism. Examples would include Galileo, Copernicus, Thomas Edison, etc. All these individuals went against common belief to go above and beyond to better the world with new knowledge and innovations. Mr. Keating says, "No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world". This quote is just one of the many things that Mr. Keating says to encourage the boys to strive to seek out their voice and to use their unique qualities to make a difference in the world.