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Themes In Dead Poets Society

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Why are the doors past the first level of the mind locked for so many? Locked by the omnipresent shackles of tradition and social conventions that only those with an educated imagination can break through. The protagonists in, Dead Poet’s Society, were oblivious to their journey in pursuit of individualism due to the constant bombardment of tradition and expectation from the conformists at Welton Academy. Mr.Keating's efforts to create “freethinkers” (Keating) out of his students is very similar to Frye’s goals to educate the imaginations of society so that they can “follow [their] bliss” (Frye). Life and its conventions are like a large flowing river - for one to experience true self actualization a stream branching off must be created because “even a dead fish can go with the flow” (Hightower). The film Dead Poets Society pertains to various themes explored in the course including the hero's journey, The Seven Basic Plots, Four Plot Patterns, Frye and Campbell allowing for a thorough cumulative analysis. The monomyth that Campbell so eloquently illustrates through physical, emotional, and psychological transformations was present throughout the entire film of Dead Poet’s Society. The classical heroic journey begins in a setting where the hero exists in their day-to-day life, known as the ordinary world. Welton Academy introduces the ordinary world by expressing the four pillars of the school “tradition, honour, discipline, excellence” (Hagar) and making it clear that

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