“Oh Captain! My Captain!” Why Mr. Keating is Needed Now, More than Ever
Dead Poets Society is an award-winning film directly responsible for taking “carpe diem” mainstream. Before the film’s release, you would be hard-pressed to find someone who believed that sucking out all the “marrow of life” was a good thing.
If you listen close, you can hear those before you whisper their legacy to you. Go on. Lean in. Listen.
What do you hear?
If you were a student in Mr. Keating’s class at Welton Academy, an elite boarding school, you would hear the dead whisper… “carpe… carpe diem… seize the day! Make your lives extraordinary!” Keating’s speech would then inspire you to stand on your school desk and shout “Oh Captain! My Captain!”
The “Captain” is Mr. John Keating, played by Robin Williams, in one of the most memorable acting roles of his career. Dead Poets Society has influenced generations of free-thinkers, poetry lovers, and English majors — and has taught us that “Latin” is not a serving size at Starbucks.
The boys at Welton learned that Mr. Keating, who also attended Welton, was a troublemaker in his youth. His main avenue for rebellion was to start a poetry club with his fellow classmates. They called this club the Dead Poets Society. At the opening of each Dead Poets Society meeting, a poem was read:
I went to the woods because I
Wanted to live deliberately…
I wanted to live deep and suck
Out all the marrow of life!
To put to rout all that was not life…
And not, when I came to die, discover
That I had not lived…
An excerpt from Henry David Thoreau’s Walden: Or, Life in the Woods.
After opening remarks, each member of the Dead Poets Society took turns reading poetry aloud. Elaine Reynold’s Miss October 1959 Playboy spread makes an appearance — Charlie Dalton (Gale Hansen), another Welton troublemaker — presents his own poetical work with a spectacle of nudity and theatrics! Charlie later adopts the pseudonym Nuwanda to alleviate any obscurity that surrounds his life transformation from Welton student to Dead Poets Society fellow.
Mr. Keating stood for something that the boys of Welton had never experienced before. Although poetry was the main force behind Mr. Keating’s influence on the boys, the spirit of carpe diem was so impactful, that the boys started to think for themselves! Something unheard of at Welton!
Before Mr. Keating, the administrators at Welton taught that tradition, honor, discipline, and excellence were all that mattered in life. Your goal, as a student of Welton, was to dedicate everything you had to academics, business, and science. There was no time for extracurricular activities. Thomas Perry’s (Kurtwood Smith) last words to Neil Perry (Robert Sean Leonard), before Neil took his own life, were “I don’t know why you insist on defying us.” Those at Welton believed that obedience was the greater good that every student should strive for.
The boys at Welton learn that there is much more to life than what they had been taught. Although dedicating your existence to school, your career, your degree, are important, to be human is to live a life of passion.
Passion is not something we can measure or quantify. To be a human is to experience what “being human” is. Love, hate, anger, happiness… these are all immaterial feelings we have as part of human existence. But feelings aren’t something to be scoffed at. Feelings have built empires, raised nations, and fueled creation. Keating says, “No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world.”
And he is right.
Human existence depends on relationships — humans interacting with humans. “Love” cannot exist without something to love. Passion cannot exist without something to be passionate about. Without relationships, the world would be devoid of humanity. To believe, is to be a part of something bigger than yourself. If we do not allow ourselves to embrace the passions of life, we are denying the call of human existence.
Today, we are experiencing what life is like without passion, without human interaction, and without meaningful relationships.
Government mandated “lockdown” orders have shaped a world devoid of carpe diem. Human interaction is discouraged, entrepreneurs are ignored, and children are being raised in isolation. There is nothing more destructive to human ingenuity than an over-bearing government who believes that human existence amounts to obedience.
We are told that we are going to Harvard and we are going to be doctors. We have no choice. Our over-bearing father has proclaimed this to be true and it must be obeyed. Experts have laid-out our path for us, our life’s plan has been written in stone. If we are to be successful and safe, we are to obey those in positions of power.
Mr. Keating disagrees, and you should too. There is more to life than fear of COVID, fear for safety, and obedience to authority.
We are human — we require passion! Life is an experience that cannot be fully realized in a system that is built to subdue all who defy the likes of Thomas Perry. To live life is to take risks. To take risks is to be human.
“This is a battle, a war, and the casualties could be your hearts and souls.”
Carpe diem!
