Analysis Of Seize The Day Mr Keating

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Seize the Day, Wisely “Seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary” is the sentiment new teacher Mr. Keating leaves with his students after the first day of class at Welton Academy (Weir). Mr. Keating teaches in an unorthodox manner, evident on the first day of class when catching the boys off guard by calling the introduction of their poetry textbook “excrement,” and instructing the boys to rip that section out of their book (Weir). His unique style of teaching forces the boys, who face immense pressures from their parents to excel, to think on their own. Using this idea of living for today, a group of boys reestablish the Dead Poet’s Society, which Mr. Keating describes as “dedicated to sucking the marrow out of life” by reading verses of famous poetry (Weir). This live-for-today mentality …show more content…

Mr. Keating presents this message of Carpe Diem to the boys because the young boys “believe they’re destined for great things,” but many people wait until it is too late to “make from their lives even one iota of what they were capable” (Weir). So, he is telling the boys to seize opportunities in life to become successful, before they are “fertilizing daffodils” (Weir). In Peter Weir’s film Dead Poet’s Society, Carpe Diem is the most influential lesson taught to the boys by Mr. Keating. The first boy heavily influenced by the teaching of Carpe Diem is Knox Overstreet, who is inspired to try to develop a relationship with Chris Noel. Knox, after meeting Chris, portrays her to his friends as “the most beautiful girl in [his] entire life” and cannot ignore his feelings for her (Weir). When Knox can no longer withhold his affection, he decides that he is going to call her, and he motivates himself by saying, “‘Carpe diem.’ Even if it kills me” (Weir). Without the teachings from Mr. Keating, his concerns that “She 's gonna hate me. The Danburrys will hate me. My parents will kill me” would cause him

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