On the first day of class, John Keating (played by Robin Williams) ushered the class out to the trophy room. He called one boy from the class and made him read To The Virgins to Make Much of Time by Robert Herrick. This is where Keating’s influence on the boys began. From the verses of To The Virgins to Make Much of Time, Keating discussed the importance of living life to its fullest. Its first line “Gather ye rosebuds while ye may” is a sentiment on the Latin term “Carpe diem” which means seize the day.
He encouraged the boys to live their lives while they were young because, quoting Keating from the movie, we are only mortals who will “experience a limited number of springs, summers, and falls. ” After reading the poem of Herrick, John Keating asked the boys to stare at the pictures of former students of Welton Academy in the trophy room. He said that the eyes of those boys in the picture were the same as their eyes now: full of dreams and hopes, a hope on being extraordinary someday.But these boys in the picture failed to reach for those dreams. Being enchanted in the idea of success, these boys, as they grew up and became men, left their childhood dreams. They forgot about those dreams and did not live their lives as it had a deadline -- not until they realized that it was already too late for them.
It was not too late for Keating’s students. As they were young, they still have enough time to reach for their dreams and do what they want. That’s why Keating emphasized this to the boys.He said that they should always keep that flame of desire, of dreams, and of hopes to be alive in their hearts no matter what. These words struck the boys in Keating’s class.
It inspired them to do what they wanted and to stand on their own ground. They took Keating’s words seriously not only to learn about literature but to learn about life. They applied his lectures even outside their classrooms. This is why the Dead Poets’ Society was revived by some of Keating’s students. Keating’s lectures on poetry and literature were not merely lectures on the words and meanings of composed works.They were also lectures on life where these meanings taught the boys how to live their life and learn not just from their classroom, but even from the world.
A good example of this lecture was when Keating took the class in the courtyard and asked them to walk around. The boys’ strides became a march and followed Keating’s claps on each step they make. This was a symbolic action on conformity. Keating told the boys that they should know the dangers of conformity and that they should know to stay away from it. Being part of the herd makes one lose his own voice.In this way, Keating taught the boys to think for themselves, to not lose their own voices because of conformity.
A message that means that they should know how to learn outside of their school, that they should learn from their own experiences and others as well. Starting from Herrick’s poetry to unusual class lectures, John Keating taught his students on literature and on its importance and purpose. But not only that, Keating also taught these kids to think for themselves and to be students of the world learning new things from it.
