Right from the beginning of the movie we can see that the school the protagonists attend is an elite yet rigid prep school. Students have very little choice when determining classes and all follow similar career paths whether it be medicine, law, business, etc. There is little room for one to express themselves individually and it is only after taking the poetry class with Mr. Keating do they slowly but surely begin to come out of their shells. By organizing the “Dead Poet’s Society” and meeting in their secret cave at night, the protagonists are able to overcome the rigid shackles placed upon them. Moreover, while they think they are just discussing poetry, Keating’s unconventional lectures show that poetry is actually teaching them about life itself. Rather than learning about topics like meter and evaluating a poem solely based on its perfection and impact, the group learns how poetry can teach someone to fully express themselves.

I find this to be certainly true as after I took a literature course in high school and during my freshman year, I found that I learned a lot of values that could be applied to my life directly. Moreover, I believe that it is important to study poetry and the humanities as a means to provide balance and keep life in perspective. I certainly have grown as an individual as a result of my extra emphasis on the humanities.