投稿類別 : 英文寫作類 篇名 : Reflections On The Movie Dead Poets Society The Discussion to Neil s Death 作者 : 劉泰辰 天主教台北徐匯高級中學 高三智班陳胤佑 天主教台北徐匯高級中學 高三智班龔囿霖 天主教台北徐匯高級中學 高三智班 指導老師 : 林文杏老師
I. Introduction When we were in the eleventh grade of high School, our English teacher introduced us to see the movie Dead poets Society, depicting about an enthusiastic teacher Mr. Keating inspiring a group of elite students in school to develop the ability of independent thinking. After viewing the movie, we deeply feel the impact it brings us, especially for conformists like us, never daring to defy elders advice. In our student days, we really have never met a teacher like Mr. Keating. In junior high school, teachers often tell us we have to study hard to enter an ideal senior high school. The senior high school teachers often say we have to get through high school, entering good colleges, and then everything will be fine. However, we can not help but have many questions about our future deep in our hearts. After seeing this movie, there are some voices in our mind: Why does Neil, one of the students in the film, choose to suicide? Why does his father not allow him to be an actor so ruthlessly? If Neil s father can give him a chance, whether will Neil not end up committing suicide? Whether should Mr. Keating take the responsibility for Neil s death? Therefore, in this essay we will discuss these questions and we also have a survey which aims to investigate the students in our class about their viewpoints on these. Through the discussion and the survey, we present in this essay our understanding of some viewpoints toward this film. II. Thesis 1. Plot synopsis This film is set in a prestigious school Welton Academy, an elite prep school in Vermont in 1959, whose school mottos, "Tradition, Honor, Discipline and Excellence", are introduced by the headmaster Gale Nolan on the first day students enter this campus. It mainly describes about that students under conservative education are inspired by their new English teacher Mr. John Keating, who encourages students to live with passion through poetry his teaches. Not until the boys have Mr. Keating s lessons do they know they should seize the day and try their best to make their life extraordinary. Mr. Keating's teaching methods inspire Neil to reorganize their Dead Poets Society with other six classmates through reading poems in a cave in the woods during the midnight, which makes them have more courage to find their own dreams. However, what Mr. Keating does is absolutely thought to rebel the school s principles. The movie ends up the unexpected death of Neil and the dismission of Mr. Keating. 1
1.1 The death of Neil Neil is a smart talented student, the envy of his classmates. From the very beginning, his father has already arranged his future life. Neil's family is not rich, but the father tries hard to get him into the prestigious school. Neil is well aware that he is his parents pride and hopes to live up to his family s expectations. However, he believes that being a doctor is not his ideal after Mr. Keating's instruction, and he finds his interest is to be an actor. What he really wants to do is stage acting. Neil attends a drama performance despite his father s resolute opposition. Neil is unable to rebel against his father but also can not abandon his thinking about performance, so with despair and frustration, he has no choice but to end his own life. The outcome seems to have previously revealed in the film by Gerard Pitts, one of Neil s classmates, reading Robert Herrick's poem: "Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, old time is still a flying, and this same flower that smiles today, tomorrow will be dying." (Herrick, 1967) As Mr. Keating's explanation, "Gather ye rosebuds while ye may" in the Latin term means Carpe Diem, that is, "seize the day". (Kleinbaum, 1989) However, it is sorrowful that what Neil does is not to "seize the day" but seems like flowers still bloom today but will wither soon next day. 1.2 The causes of Neil s suicide The tragedy of Neil s suicide is undoubtedly the turning point in this film. The plot is thus transferred to the latter half of the movie the climax following conflict. The tune of the play is no longer as happy as it is at the outset. Some of our classmates say why Neil s suicide should be arranged, the tragedy making the movie end in a bad ending. However, we should say without the impact of Neil s death, how can we have such a classic and admirable movie? Who should be blamed for Neil s death? Who should take the responsibility for Neil s death? Neil's father or Mr. Keating? To the best of our knowledge, in addition to indirect and non-decisive factors, such as his father s autocratic education, his mother s cowardice, Mr. Keating s inspiration bringing out the latent trait of his personality, the main cause of Neil s suicide is the fear deep in his heart. A. Autocratic family education His father's values become the biggest stumbling block stopping Neil s moving 2
forward. In the movie, Todd, one of Neil s classmates, bolts in the snow and cries, "His father killed him!" how sorrowful scene it is! The role of Neil's father is on behalf of the traditional social order which is consistent with the dogma of the school. In spite of the fact that Neil's father wants him to be a doctor, a prestigious, pragmatic and traditional career like bankers and lawyers, when Neil no longer wants to play an obedient son and student, the tragedy is destined to happen. Not having enough courage to challenge the authority of his father and not knowing how to get rid of the shackles of the traditional order, Neil is forced to choose suicide to escape from the dilemma in his life. We have more sympathy for Neil, but, to some degree, we can not blame his father. On one hand, the father is afraid that his son will dash his plan for sending him into a medical school. On the other hand, the son is just like his father in youth; therefore, the father doesn t permit his son to follow in his footsteps, making the same mistakes as he did in his youth. He tells Neil, We can not let you destroy yourself, you do not know what had you to. (Kleinbaum, 1989) As the proverb goes, An old man's sayings are seldom untrue. The elders usually tell us that the salt they have tasted is more than the rice we have eaten. However, Neil, a seventeen-year-old boy, obviously can not figure out his father s painstaking advice. B. Mr. Keating s edification Mr. Keating is like a warrior against tradition. He asks his students to tear the pieces about the introduction to poems in the textbook. He stands on the desk telling students to constantly look at things in different ways. He inspires all the students to read their poems written by themselves. He says: You don t have to perform. Just make it for yourself, and Just don t let your poems be ordinary. He also encourages students to seize the day and make lives extraordinary. (Kleinbaum, 1989) However, all of these are like nightmares for Welton Academy, making a violent impact on the inflexible teaching methods and school dogma. In the film, although Mr. Keating recommends Neil to communicate with his father, but there is no doubt that he has underestimated the power of tradition. Seeing that the tradition has always been to cultivate these students, under the huge traditional thinking, order and authority, they are weak and helpless. On the other hand, it is surely not fair to say that it is Mr. Keating s instruction which leads to Neil s suicide. What Mr. Keating does is to teach his students to live with passions. He tells his students, Boys, you must strive to find your own voice. 3
Because the longer you wait to begin, the less likely you are to find it at all. Thoreau said, Most men lead lives of quiet desperation. Don't be resigned to that. Break out! (Kleinbaum, 1989) Therefore, we must say how the teacher s edification benefits one relies on how it is realized. It is regretful that Neil eventually does not break out from his life of quiet desperation to survive. C. Neil s tragic personality Neil intends to live up to parents expectations and tries to communicate with his father, but in vain. At the end of the movie, he reluctantly chooses to escape, which reflects Neil s character flaw. The character flaw also results in his tragic ending. Because of his fear, he loses chances to explain why he has to perform in the drama. In our opinion, he may well ask friends or Mr. Keating for help to communicate with his father, but he chooses one way he is less afraid of, running away from reality. He tells Keating, "I'm trapped!" he has no way out. A role like him is destined for a tragic fate, laying out an inevitable way in full compliance with drama or literary standards. 1.3 Survey analysis After we all watched the film, we did a survey, which included statements in a questionnaire to which all our classmates were expected to respond anonymously. The total number of the questionnaires sent out was 40. All our classmates are aged seventeen to eighteen in St. Ignatius High School. The analysis of the questionnaire are as follows. Item Content The Number of People 1 2 3 4 Does autocratic family education cause Neil's death? Does Mr. Keating s edification cause Neil's death? Does Neil's tragic personality cause his death? Do you have similar distress like Neil s? 4
5 6 If you have similar distress like Neil s, will you stick to your ideals, regardless of whether you will be successful? If you have similar distress like Neil s, will you accept the elders opinions to your future? We are twelfth graders in high school now. With the approaching of college entrance examination, the whole class is under great pressure. Apart from academic stress in school, every day we are also suffering from much distress in life and facing an unknown future with anxiety. From Item Four in this survey, to our great relief, there are fewer classmates having similar distress like Neil s; however, in Item Five, we find almost half of our classmates, fifteen of them, lack confidence in sticking to their ideals. Item Six shows that more than half of our classmates are willing to accept the elders opinions to their future, which really makes our teacher relieved. The statistics of the first three items show around thirty of our classmates impute the causes of Neil s death to his father s family education and Neil's personality. 2. Further Discussion After seeing the movie, we are sorry for Neil s death at the end of the story; however, in real life, do we all really stand up for Neil? Will we firmly encourage him to pursue what he really wants to do even if he has perfect conditions to become a doctor or the student of the National Taiwan University College of Medicine? We believe there is something that everyone has doubts. After all, parents are inclined to conceive a bright future leading a stable and safe life for children. That children can study medicine is parents expectations. It can be understood if children work hard but still can not enter the college of medicine. However, if children have excellent ability but refuse deliberately to study medicine, that would be beyond what they thought. (Yen, 2012) Our teacher asked the class to have further discussion to the following question: If we had a friend or a child like Neil, whether would we stand by him and encourage him to be an actor? We generalize our classmates opinions as follows: On the premise that one is not interested in or is incapable of studying, we will support him to develop his other expertise to be an actor. 5
If one is excellent in studying and get good grades, even good enough to enter a top university like National Taiwan University College of Medicine, we will persuade him to give up the idea of being an actor; after all, interests can be changed. No one knows whether he will cultivate his interest in studying medicine or he will discover that acting is not his favorite. In short, everything is unknown. However good or bad the results will be and whatever others will say, one should choose what he really wants to do. As his friend or his parents, all we can do is stand by him and encourage him. Some problems in life are really difficult to answer. We are students under the educational system in Taiwan and do not know what so-called "standard answers are or if there are standard answers. Most of Taiwan's students are not able to, are not allowed to, or even are afraid to make choices for themselves. The students with good grades are not allowed to choose, but students with poor grades have no choices, both of which often make them unhappy and lack self-confidence. In the journal Education Parenting Family Lifestyle, Ms. Bin says that students in Taiwan are good at answering multiple-choice questions, but when encountering important problems in life, they usually dare not to make decisions. (Bin, 2012) How do parents make children learn to be responsible for their own life and taste the flavor of selections together with them? That is really a difficult problem. When children choose the way to the future, parents and teachers can give them advice. However, the final decision is still in children s hands because that is their future. In the journal Education Parenting Family Lifestyle, Ms. Yen mentions that blindly urging children to study hard will hurt parent-child relationship, but if parents occasionally share working experiences with children who will have tension to their future and will not waste their youth. (Yen, 2012) If one chooses to become a stage actor like Neil, for example, parents should give him a hand, allow him to have actor-training and learn professional required skills to enrich himself, so that he can enhance his strength in the area and assure and fulfill his own ideals. 3. Cultivation of independent thinking Although the movie ends in Neil s suicide and the dismission of Mr. Keating, we still can not ignore the positive views conveyed in the film learning to think independently. Mr. Keating encourages students to develop their imagination, see the world from another angle, and make their life different. Moreover, the most important thing is that Keating adheres to what he says to Mr. Nolan, the Principal of Welton 6
Academy: I thought the purpose of education was to learn to think for yourself. (Kleinbaum, 1989) Mr. Keating motivates students in class to think independently. For example, during the marching lesson in this film, Mr. Keating tells students, Now, I want you to find your own walk right now. Your own way of striding, pacing. Any direction. Anything you want. Whether it's proud, whether it's silly, anything. Gentlemen, the courtyard is yours. (Kleinbaum, 1989) In the class, he quotes Robert Frost s poem, excerpted from the poem The Road Not Taken, as the following fragment: "Two roads diverged in a wood and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference." (Frost, 1949) All of these are the facts that Mr. Keating wants his students not to have blind obedience for the desire to be accepted or to be recognized. III. Conclusion Dead Poets Society is really a classic campus film. Although the first half is joyous and the latter part is regrettable, the atmosphere in the whole movie is extremely smooth. The fate of the characters and the changes of the characters personality constitute the basis of such atmosphere. There are no absolutely bad men or good men in this film. We figure it out that there will be many different views to the same thing, which is what actually happens in our real life. Though it is a foreign film, we can find familiar emotions and experiences in life. Everyone is unique because it is impossible to find exactly the same person as you or me, so that each of us is in need of special education. However, there are special students, but are there teachers who can teach us? Mr. Keating in the film inspires his students through Thoreau s prose: I went into the woods because I wanted to live deliberately. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to put to rout all that was not life; and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. (Thoreau, 1962) This is Thoreau s life creed. For us, we should also find out our life creeds, ideas and persistence though it is not easy. Among the crowd, it's easy to forget our own pace, but we should make it clear what we really want. It is impossible for us to know if we will have long life, but how to live depends on ourselves. Thus, all we can do is ask ourselves if we know how to lead our life and if we live happily every day. 7
IV. References 1. 賓靜蓀 (2012) 五心法, 學會選擇, 勇敢追夢 親子天下雜誌 Education Parenting Family Lifestyle 38 期 台北市 : 天下雜誌群 2. 顏擇雅 (2012) 讀那個會吃不飽讀那個會吃不飽 親子天下雜誌 Education Parenting Family Lifestyle 39 期 台北市 : 天下雜誌群 3. Frost, Robert (1949). The Road Not Taken. Complete Poems of Robert Frost. New York: H. Holt. 4. Herrick, Robert (1967). To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time. Poems of Robert Herrick. New York : Thomas Y. Crowell Co. 5. Kleinbaum, N.H.(1989). Dead Poets Society. New York : Bantam books, Inc. 6. Thoreau, Henry David (1962). Walden. New York: Time Incorporated. 8
V. Appendixes Dear respondents: We are all twelfth graders in St. Ignatius Senior High School. This is a survey toward the movie Dead Poets Society. Your valuable opinions will become an important basis of this study data. All your answers to the questionnaire will only be served as academic research purposes. Thank you for filling out this questionnaire. Students: Liu Tai-Chen Chen Yin-You Gong You-Lin.. I. Background information : All our respondents will be students aged seventeen to eighteen who have seen the movie Dead Poets Society. II. Contents of the questionnaire : 1. Does autocratic family education cause Neil's death? Yes No 2. Does Mr. Keating s edification cause Neil's death? Yes No 3. Does Neil's tragic personality cause his death? Yes No 4. Do you have similar distress like Neil s? Yes No 5. If you have similar distress like Neil s, will you stick to your ideals, regardless of whether you will be successful? Yes No 6. If you have similar distress like Neil s, will you accept the elders opinions to your future? Yes No Thank you for your valuable opinions! 9