Dead Poets Society

Hello everyone! Long time no see. Well I can’t actually see you, but you get the point. I would like talk to my audience today about a movie that I have recently watched in AP English; Dead Poets Society. A student in the movie, Neil Perry, loves to perform extra-curricular activities and his new favorite one is acting. After his performance of a Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” Mr. Perry was very angry and told his son that he had to stop acting, attend military school, and become a doctor. Neil does not like this idea, so he commits suicide. His suicide is not “I hate my life, so I’m going to kill myself” suicide, but a realization that he must do this to help benefit the rest of group of the Dead Poets Society. His suicide is performed in order to have his friends stand up for what they believe in and to not let anyone hold them back.

I connect Neil to a Christ-like figure. In the scene before he commits suicide, he puts on the wooden crown from the play; whereas Christ had a crown of thorns placed on his head. Also, Neil closes his eyes and stretches his arms out wide, thus resembling Jesus Christ hanging on the cross. Christ willingly went to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind. He did this so that by believing on him, we could ask for salvation from Hell and go to Heaven. Christ died on the cross to benefit those who he loved and cared about.

One book that comes to mind when talking about this is Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. I have talked about this book before in my last post, so I will not go into great background detail. The Igbo is facing a conflict with the Christian Missionaries who have come to convert them. Okonkwo does not like this and revolts. During a meeting trying to rally the tribe to take action, he chops off a white messenger’s head and then Okonkwo flees and commits suicide. The suicide he commits is to have the tribe can realize that what they are doing is wrong (in the sense of moving away from their traditional viewpoints). I believe that Okonkwo believed that his suicide would benefit the people because they would see what was wrong and take action to fix it.

I personally believe that Neil’s suicide was supposed to awaken his friends and make them realize that they do not have to be oppressed with the wishes of their parents. I honestly believe that his suicide was supposed to be equivalent to Christ’s crucifixion. It was so sad that the events played out the way they did because I really liked Neil and found him to be relatable, not from his parental problems, but his leadership role and the various activities that he partakes in. In the words of Mr. Keating, “CARPE DIEM!”

Until next time, don’t eat yellow snow.

Thank you,

Ryan Sperratore