Life is full of many good moments, but also many lessons that should be learnt whether it be by someone telling you or by you figuring things out for yourself. Professor Keating, in the film Dead Poets Society directed by Peter Weir, said many inspirational words which have shown how in order to get the best out of life, it’s yourself who has to be the one to accomplish your goals and not to go with the crowd, but to follow what you believe in no matter how hard it is to get there. When Professor Keating became the new English teacher for a strict boys boarding school which promotes realism, the class gets a shock when he comes in with his big ideas and new ways of teaching. Every lesson he teaches gives his class a new outlook on life and helps the students to ‘Carpe Diem’ (seize the day) which was what he wanted them to do every single day; that is, “make [their] lives extraordinary.» This concept of seizing the day made me reflect about how life is so short and you do have to seize each day so that you can make the most out of opportunities as they arise.

Todd Anderson, Neil Perry, Knox Overstreet, Richard Cameron, Steven Meeks, Gerard Pitts, and Charlie Dalton are senior year students of high school at Welton Academy, an all-male, elite prep school in Vermont.

On the first day of classes, they are surprised by the unique teaching methods of the new English teacher, John Keating. Keating encourages his students to “make your lives extraordinary”.

Upon learning that Keating was a member of the unsanctioned Dead Poets Society while he was at Welton, Neil restarts the club and he and his friends sneak off campus to a cave where they read poetry and verse, including their own compositions. As the school year progresses, Keating’s lessons and their involvement with the club encourage them to live their lives on their own terms.

The film ended up with Neil’s death.

The most significant theme of the movie is ‘carpe diem‘. It is the phrase that professor Keating uses in his first lecture. This phrase means’ seize the day’. The movie highlights the importance that you only live once and you should live on your own terms.