Nolan vs Keating
Nolan vs. KeatingThroughout the movie, Dead Poets Society, John Keating, one of the English teachers at Welton Academy, and Mr. Nolan, the Principal of Welton Academy, are both brilliant educators, but they teach in extremely different manners. Their beliefs about curriculum and methods collide with each other, because Mr. Keating’s thoughts of rebellion and Carpe Diem irritate Mr. Nolan’s thoughts of conformity. Along with their differences there are positive and negative aspects to the way both teach. Which makes the differences between Keating and Nolan an interesting contrast.
Through out the movie, John Keating expresses his beliefs about conformity, and rebellion, in his approach of teaching as well as his influences. At one point in the movie Keating instructs the kids to rip out the first couple of pages in their poetry books. He does this because he feels that people should be able to read and write poetry for themselves, and interpret it in the way that they want. The boys had forgotten their dreams and ambitions and their parents tried to live vicariously through their children. He encourages the boys to rebel against their parent’s wishes, and against the school. Also with the influence of Keating the boys decided to restart the Dead Poets Society, which was against school policy. Although it was good for the boys to rebel, and do what they felt right, it brought devastating consequences. Keating is well liked by his pupils, but not so much as by his surrounding faculty because he is changing the traditional way of teaching and that bothered most of the faculty especially Mr. Nolan, who eventually puts an end to it. Mr. Keating’s teaching methods had advantages and disadvantages. A positive out come of his teachings is that he gets the boys to think for themselves, and not just go by what a book tells them. The students listen to him because he is a fun teacher, and he is someone who the boys look up to. But a negative aspect of Keating’s influence might have lead to the death of one of his students, Neil Perry, because of his rebellious personality. Although all of his teachings were intended to be good-hearted, the boys took it one step too far, and he ended up getting in trouble with the school and their parents. Keating admires individuality, free thinking, and those stand up for themselves and seize the day, or Carpe Diem. He...
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