Thoughts on Mr.Keating from The Dead Poets' Society Movie

Mr. Keating's external journey took place at the school where he taught English and it ended once he was accused of Neil's death. Mr. Keating was a very effective teacher, he encouraged his students to think for themselves and not conform in life. His professional ethical standards were not equal to those of the school; they did not meet Welton's four pillars, “tradition, honor, discipline, and excellence". But come to think of it, I think that was best. He was unorthodox in the best way. He wanted to awaken curiosity I'm his students and teach them what poetry really was.

His teaching methods were very different to those of the other teachers. Unlike most teachers he did not believe that all he had to do was prepare them for college, he was focused on preparing them for life. He was devoted to his students like no other teacher in the school was.  Mr. Keating was also a sort of parental figure that the boys needed; their parents in most cases did not pay enough attention to them. Mr. Keating, in contrast of their parents was there for them and supported them. He helped the boys develop ties similar to those of between a parent and a son among each other. For example, Neil was there for Todd while he dealt with his shyness and nervousness.

Their teacher influenced them especially when he exposed them to the idea of "Carpe Diem". He urged them to seize the day. Knox was one of those boys who were impacted greatly by this, taking a chance and pursuing the girl of his dreams. Despite having such a wonderful teacher, the students were not in the best environment. The only case in which they were truly stimulated was when they were in the classroom.

The students were affected by their teacher just as much as the teacher was. Mr. Keating went through a lot of things with these boys. The school blamed Mr. Keating for Neil's death but that was not the case. There was a certain loyalty that held them together, despite having to sign a paper saying otherwise. Mr. Keating opened the door to a whole new world for Neil, which he realized he loved, and that was acting.

This all started when Mr. Keating told them about The Dead Poets' Society and boys began going to go to the woods at night with the purpose of reading poetry and bonding. The entire journey that Mr. Keating had, both internal and external was completely intertwined to that of the boys. His internal journey had many twists and turns. Mr. Keating suffered along with these boys.