A Reaction to "Dead Poet's Society"

The appreciation of poetry is not measured by meter, rhyme, importance, or perfection. It is measured by the human soul - how it has been touched. We may live to work and pursue our dreams, but we live FOR poetry and all that it stands for - love, beauty, romance... life.

Poetry is alive. Poetry is not merely a text, a conception of the mind, but it is the fruits of life - the imagery of experiences that make us complete... to which... "what verse will ye add" (Mr. Keating)

Poetry becomes an open highway, an outlet available for expression. It allows the realization of the ability to verbalize what we think, what we know, what we feel, and what we long for... opening our eyes to see who we are and not just who we should be or who we are told to be.

In the movie, Mr. Keating encouraged students to see things in a different perspective, as the poets viewed life from their own so he wanted them to dare to have their own (perception of life). These boys were taught to think freely - for themselves. To live life seeing what is pure, good, and true, knowing that it is out there yet within their grasp, if only they would "seize the day." It is so enlightening, so beautiful a concept once applied to real life.

Reading from these dead poets - learning from their works permit their feelings and ideas and ideals to live on. Although tints of idealism have been known to cause its own disasters, I admire how this idealism presented is brought into the light of reality, "as there is time for daring so is there time for caution." Being in a world filled with the harsh realities of trials and pain, we are made to realize that we are still FREE - free to feel, to think, to be unique - to be ourselves. This ought to make us grateful for life despite the suffering - as we look forward to the silver lining behind every dark cloud, giving us strength for today, hope for tomorrow, endurance for the pain, courage for the hardships, and fulfillment in the end.

I watched this movie couple of times before, and even now it made me wonder how this teacher touched the lives of boys (nontheless) with the use of poetry (so nontraditional, negating sexual stereotypes). It always moved me the way these students stood up for this man and how he, in turn, made such an impact in their lives. But only now, did i actually listen and focus on what he was teaching.

We ought to value this freedom, because taking Neil as an example; he was without freedom of expression - his pain and drudgery all locked up inside led him to decide to end his life prematurely. I think he would have died anyway, in the absence of self-expression - being unable to hope or to live his life the way he wanted to. He failed. How important it is to see... to stand, just as the others realized in the end.