Dead Poets Society: N.H. Kleinbaum’s Novel of John Keating, Welton Academy and Carpe Diem
Todd Anderson and his friends at Welton Academy can hardly believe how different life is since their new English teacher, the eccentric John Keating, challenged them to "make your lives extraordinary". This unusual teacher brings with him new teaching methods that have nothing to do with Welton’s strict rules, and a liberal, open view of life and learning.
Author: N.H. Kleinbaum
Title: Dead Poets Society (1989)
Format: English mass-market paperback (Disney Hyperion), 176 pages
Scope: Novel based on the screenplay by Tom Schulman for the 1989 film
Amazon: www.amazon.es/dp/1401308775 (ASIN 1401308775)
The Dead Poets Society
Inspired by Keating, the boys revive the Dead Poets Society, a secret club where, free from the limits and expectations of school and parents, they let their passions fly. As Keating makes the boys listen to the great words of Byron, Shelley and Keats, they discover not only the beauty of language but also the importance of making every moment count: carpe diem.
Consequences
They soon realise that their new freedom may have tragic consequences. Can the Dead Poets Society survive the pressure of the authorities determined to destroy their dreams?
From Screen to Page
The story began as Tom Schulman’s screenplay, inspired partly by his own experience at Montgomery Bell Academy, a boys’ school in Nashville, and by a memorable teacher there. Peter Weir directed the film in 1989, with Robin Williams as John Keating, Robert Sean Leonard as Neil Perry and Ethan Hawke as Todd Anderson, and Schulman won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. N.H. Kleinbaum’s novel was written from the screenplay and published the same year; it follows the film scene by scene, adding a little of the boys’ inner lives.
Welton, 1959
The story takes place in 1959 at Welton Academy, a strict boarding school in Vermont built on four pillars: tradition, honour, discipline and excellence. The boys are expected to go on to Ivy League colleges and respectable professions, and most of their parents have planned their futures for them. Neil, the most gifted, longs to act, and lands the role of Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream; his father wants him to be a doctor. That conflict drives the story to its climax.
Keating’s Lessons
Keating’s methods became famous through the film: he has the boys tear out the textbook introduction that measures poetry’s greatness on a graph, stands on his desk to show them how a different viewpoint changes everything, and teaches them Horace’s carpe diem, "seize the day". Their meetings in a cave open with lines from Thoreau’s Walden, about living deliberately and sucking out all the marrow of life. And Walt Whitman’s "O Captain! My Captain!" gives the story its unforgettable final scene.
For Teachers and Students
The novel is short and accessible, which makes it popular in schools, and it raises good questions for discussion: about conformity, parental pressure, the responsibility of teachers and the cost of following your passion. It also makes a fine gateway to the poets it quotes.
Book or Film?
The film is the original and the stronger work, carried by Robin Williams’s performance and Weir’s direction, and the novel cannot replace it. What the book offers is a quick, private way to revisit the story, or an easier entry for younger readers who will then watch the film with fresh eyes. Read together, the two make a good starting point for a class discussion.
Why Read It
Kleinbaum’s novel follows the film closely, and it is a quick, moving read for anyone who loved the film, or for teenagers who have not seen it yet. Few stories capture so well what a single good teacher can mean.
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