Significant experiences;
the twists of life.
Significant experiences are moments in life that create change not only in one's present period of
life, but also dramatically alter one's view of the surrounding and forthcoming events. The
impacts of such experiences are the opening of new doors in life, the realization of possibilities
one would have never imagined sitting right under one's nose and the perception of details one
never thought important before. They mostly temper peoples views of events, shedding a different
hue of light upon them, revealing multiple possibilities that were once left in shadow. In Dead
Poet's society, a handful of students discover through the exuberance of their English teacher what
kinds of lives they had been leading, and what their lives could be. One student in particular, Neil
Perry, discovers a whole new world and his life is irreversibly changed as a result of the impact of
his association with Mr. Keating.
The lives of all the boys were drastically changed the day they met Mr. Keating. 'Carpe Diem' he
told them. 'Seize the day, make you lives extraordinary.' With these few words, Mr. Keating
opened the minds of his students to the broad possibilities that life held for them. The boys
learned that they deserved more than the daily routine, that they were not satisfied with living up
to the expectations of others. As a result, they re-established the Dead Poet's society, and
consequently experienced what they had been protected from previously. The most significant
change wrought from both the arrival of Mr. Keating and the re-instatement of the Dead Poet's
Society was Neil Perry's change in attitude. He realized what his dreams were, and to accomplish
them, he had to do something he had never dared to do in the past, disregard the will of his father.
Having lived under the iron rule of an oppressive father his entire life, Neil's spirit was in danger
of smothering to death. The Dead Poet's Society and Mr. Keating reawakened Neil's
half-drowned spirit and encouraged Neil to strive towards what he thought was important, not
what his father thought was important. Neil's life was drastically changed as a result of his
meeting Mr. Keating, from a life dedicated to school, to a life dedicated to living. The impact of
this association with Mr. Keating was that Neil was a different person after, he attempted to break
free of the conformity that was suppressing him and his view on life became brighter and more
hopeful.
For Neil, the significant experience of meeting Mr. Keating also changed his outlook on the
future. Instead of constantly studying and dreading disciplinary action from his father, he began to
look towards the good things in life. He realized that his dream was to become an actor, and that
acting gave him happiness and hope that he had never had before. Acting was Neil's hope for the
future, it let him grow and experience life's true joys, joys that he could not have even wished for
in the past. The greatest impact that Mr. Keating had on Neil was that he taught him to look past
the wishes of others, to see what was really wanted out of life. Neil had been living a life created
by his father, working towards goals set by his father, and growing up to be his father. After
meeting Mr. Keating, Neil broke free of the bonds his father had tied around him and tore off the
blinders that had restricted his view of his life. He saw things from his own point of view, acted as
he wanted, not as his father expected him to. His reaction to and perception of events that
occurred after his significant experience were radically different than those of events preceding his
experience. The most important decision Neil made in the entire movie, however, was the one to
kill himself. This was a decision made by the new Neil, the Neil with a mind and future of his
own. The old Neil would have grudgingly accepted his fate, and lived a frustrated and desperate
life working towards his father's goals. A direct result of his relationship with Mr. Keating, Neil's
suicide showed that he was in control of his life, that it was in fact, his life and he wouldn't let
anybody ruin it but himself.
Neil's suicide was both a shock and an inspiration to his peers. One of their friends had just died,
but he had died for something he believed in. Neil was an inspiration not in the sense that they
believed they should all shoot themselves, but in the sense that they now knew they could stand up
for themselves and did not have to be afraid of the consequences. The impact of being taught by
Mr. Keating was evident in the other boys in their reaction to Neil's death. They all had learned
what life held in store for them, and they all understood that it had been Neil's choice to do what
he had done. To his peers, Neil's death would be remembered as his way of openly defying his
father, the school and everybody and anything else that had ever gotten in the way of his dreams.
If Mr. Keating had not entered their lives, Neil's friends would most likely have simply grieved for
their loss of a comrade, and never thought about why it had happened. If Mr. Keating had not
have entered their lives, there would not have been a reason for it to happen in the first place.
Neil's and Mr. Keating's messages in the movie were the identical, that one has to stand up for
what one believes in, and not living at all is better than living someone else's life. 'Make your life
extraordinary.' Through their connection with Mr. Keating, the boys all discovered that living up
to their own expectations was both the hardest and most satisfying experience in life. Every last
member of the Dead Poet's Society was affected by Mr. Keating, and all of them will carry his
advice with them for the rest of their lives. Through significant experience, one encounters
change, and the impact of all this is the new path one's life takes as a result.
. revealing multiple possibilities that were once left in shadow. In Dead
Poet's society, a handful of students discover through the exuberance of their. up
to the expectations of others. As a result, they re-established the Dead Poet's society, and
consequently experienced what they had been protected