Dead Poets Society

Introduction

N. H. Kleinbaum’s Dead Poets Society is a 1989 novel based on the motion picture written by Tom Schulman. The novel was released as a companion piece to the wildly popular film—also titled Dead Poets Society and released in 1989— which starred famous actors such as Robin Williams as Mr. Keating, and Ethan Hawke as Todd Anderson. The film scored high with critics, winning the Oscar in 1990 for Best Original Screenplay and receiving nominations for Best Picture, Best Actor (Williams), and Best Director (Peter Weir).

The novel, like the film, follows a group of boys at an isolated preparatory school in Vermont, where excellence and uniformity are not just expected but commanded of them. Their worlds are changed when the new English teacher, Mr. Keating, arrives, bringing with him his unconventional methods of instruction. He teaches the boys to seize the day and make their lives extraordinary.

This guide is based on the original 1989 Hyperion copy of the novel, published for Touchstone Pictures.

Content Warning: This book contains references to death by suicide and sexual assault, and uses outdated and culturally appropriative terminology that is reproduced only in direct quotes. 

Plot Summary

Tucked away in the hills of Vermont is a preparatory school designed to produce some of America’s best and brightest young male students: Welton Academy. The novel begins at the start of the fall term, when newcomer Todd Anderson is being inducted into the school. Todd is shy and fearful, always walking unnoticed in the shadow of his older brother, a legacy student at Welton. Other characters introduced in the convocation ceremony are future lawyer Knox Overstreet and future banker Charlie Dalton, both of whom are following in their fathers’ respective footsteps. Neil Perry, whose family is less wealthy than the others at Welton, is also present with his father, who is ever hard to please. Finally, the headmaster introduces the students and their parents to Welton’s newest addition to their staff: Mr. John Keating, the new English teacher.

Todd is set to room with Neil, a popular boy who is involved with several extracurriculars, including the school paper. While Todd is settling in, a number of Neil’s friends drop by and introduce themselves. Amidst the excitement, Neil’s father, Mr. Perry, enters and asks to speak with Neil. He tells him that he worries Neil is overloaded with extracurriculars and demands that he resign from the school paper. Neil begins to argue back, since he is the editor, but his father won’t hear any more of it, and Neil concedes. Neil’s friends tease him for being a pushover, but he reminds them that they all act the same way with their own fathers.

Welton (nicknamed “Hellton” by the students) proves to be even more challenging than Todd expected, and he finds himself struggling to keep up with the high expectations the school sets for its students. The teachers in Latin, trig, and other subjects begin the semester with mountains of homework assignments. It isn’t until the boys find themselves in Mr. Keating’s class that they feel they can breathe for a moment.

Mr. Keating, a young man in his thirties, sits in the classroom, staring out the window. Finally, he introduces himself and asks to either be addressed as Mr. Keating, or “O Captain! My Captain!”, in reference to the Walt Whitman poem. Then, he gets up and leads the boys to a hallway that is lined with photographs of students from the past several decades. He asks them to lean in closer and see that they aren’t much different from the students at Welton today. He asks them to consider how many of them actually followed their dreams and how many followed the path life seemed to have carved out for them. He encourages the boys to remember a particular Latin phrase: “carpe diem,” which translates to “seize the day.”

That night, Knox has to decline the boys’ offer to have a group study session. He has been instructed to have dinner with the Danburrys, his father’s friends. Knox initially dreads the appointment, but his attitude changes when he is greeted at the door by a beautiful girl named Chris. Knox is immediately enraptured with the pretty cheerleader but is crushed to discover that she is dating Chet Danburry, the son of his father’s friends. He returns to the boys that night with the tragic news: He’s met the most beautiful girl, but she’s taken.

The following morning, Mr. Keating’s class again proves to be unconventional. Mr. Keating asks his students to read the introduction to their assigned poetry book aloud. The introduction, authored by Dr. J. Evan Pritchard, claims that poetry can be ranked in a type of mathematical scale, one that accounts for a poem’s technical skill and its importance to the world at large. After deducting these two figures, one will arrive at a measurement of a poem’s greatness. Mr. Keating, after demonstrating this graph, turns to the class and declares the entire formula to be absurd. This is no such way to measure a poem’s greatness, as if a thing could be measured at all.

He commands his students to rip out the entire introduction and throw it away. They will be studying poetry differently in this class, and have no need for Dr. J. Evan Pritchard. The boys are hesitant at first, unsure of why they could be asked to destroy the book. Eventually, one by one, they rip the pages gleefully. They lean on the edge of their seats as Mr. Keating talks about the beauty and romance of poetry—both of which are essential to their understanding as members of the human race.

In the dining hall later that day, Mr. Keating is joined at his table by McAllister, the Scottish Latin teacher. McAllister inquires about the odd scene he happened to witness earlier that morning: He had seen the students ripping out the introduction to the book. He warns Mr. Keating against encouraging the boys to be artists. Mr. Keating replies that he isn’t trying to create artists but free thinkers. McAllister scoffs slightly at the idea but overall is charmed by Keating’s enthusiasm and lets the topic rest.

Meanwhile, Neil has found something of interest at his own lunch table. He shows the boys a school annual from the year Mr. Keating graduated. Under his picture, he is listed as the founder of the Dead Poets Society. After lunch, they follow Mr. Keating outside and ask him what the Dead Poets Society was. Mr. Keating tells them it was a group of boys who met in an old cave near the school grounds and took turns reading poetry aloud.

When they return to their dorms, Neil finds an old book of poems on his desk, presumably left there by Mr. Keating, with an inscription next to a Henry David Thoreau quote, saying that this was to be read at the first meeting of the Dead Poets Society. Neil gathers a group of boys and gets them to agree to meet in the cave that night and bring back the Dead Poets Society. The group consists of Knox, Charlie, and three other boys: Cameron (albeit unwillingly at first, for he is afraid to break the rules), Pitts, and Meeks.

Finally, Neil asks Todd to join. Todd tells Neil he can’t because he’s too afraid to speak in front of the others, and the whole point of the Society is for them to take turns reading aloud to each other. Neil leaves to ask the others if Todd can listen instead and still be involved. His request is granted, and Todd is in the club. They plan to leave that night and sneak out for the cave.

As the Dead Poets Society continues to meet, reading poems and confessing secrets, and Mr. Keating continues to teach against the dangers of conformity, the boys slowly begin to find their own voices. They grow brave in their pursuit of what they want: Neil discovers his passion for acting, auditioning for and landing the role of Puck in the local production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Knox grows more courageous in his attempts to woo Chris. Todd, who the whole time has feared public speaking more than anything, is pulled in front of Mr. Keating’s class to create a poem on the spot, and his words leave his classmates speechless. The friendship between the boys grows, and they discover they have dreams, ideas, and words to share with the world beyond what they’ve been conditioned to contribute by their fathers and the professors at Welton.

Eventually, Mr. Perry discovers that Neil is in the play and that he faked a permission slip from himself and Headmaster Nolan to participate. He tells his son that he must drop the show immediately. Neil visits Mr. Keating to tell him of his problem. He confides in his teacher that he feels trapped by his father’s expectations and isn’t sure how to move forward. Mr. Keating encourages Neil to tell Mr. Perry what he just told Mr. Keating: that his passion for acting is more than a hobby and he wants to pursue it. Neil agrees to think on it. When Mr. Keating asks him later if he followed up with his father, Neil lies and says that Mr. Perry was angry but agreed to let him remain in the production.

Meanwhile, Knox rides his bike to Chris’s school and delivers a love poem to her in front of her entire class. She shows up the night of Neil’s play at Welton to warn Knox that her boyfriend is furious and that he needs to stay away from her for his own safety. As it happens, Chris is on her way to the play as well, alone, and Knox convinces her to come with him. He promises one night to spend time together, and if she still doesn’t want to see him again, he will leave her alone for good. She agrees, and the two of them sit together in the auditorium.

Neil performs beautifully, and all of his friends are in the audience to cheer for him. An unexpected audience member arrives toward the end of the show: Mr. Perry. Neil sees him in the crowd but continues his final speech. Afterward, Mr. Perry takes Neil home, leaving the boys and Mr. Keating confused and worried for Neil.

At home, Mr. Perry informs Neil that he will be withdrawn from Welton and shipped off to military school for the remainder of his high school years. From there he will go to pre-med and medical school, a total of 10 years of his life that will be spent studying something Neil doesn’t want to do. Mr. Perry reminds Neil that he has no say in the matter and that he and his mother are counting on Neil to be successful and wealthy. Without another word, the family goes to bed.

That night, feeling like there is no way out of his situation, Neil sneaks down the stairs into his father’s study, where a pistol is locked in the desk drawer. He puts on the crown he wore as Puck, points the gun at himself, and fires. His parents awaken to the noise and rush down the stairs to find their son, dead on the floor of the study.

Back at Welton, the boys wake Todd up from his sleep to deliver the news. Todd wretches from grief, and the boys cling to each other as they mourn their friend. Todd blames Mr. Perry, saying Neil would never have done it if Mr. Perry hadn’t pressured him as much. Neil’s death launches a school-wide investigation, with the blame ultimately falling on Mr. Keating and the Dead Poets Society. Schools close because of situations like this, and Headmaster Nolan needs a scapegoat. The easiest target is the teacher who has been giving the boys the courage to find their own voice.

Cameron, a rule-follower at heart, is the first to confess. Charlie, disgusted and angered by Cameron’s betrayal, punches him square in the face. Cameron looks around at his friends and tells them that if they don’t confess, they risk expulsion. Mr. Keating will be fired either way, but they can still save themselves. One by one, the Dead Poets are called in to talk about their experience in Mr. Keating’s class and what happened in the cave. Only Charlie refuses to speak, and is expelled immediately. Finally, Todd is called into Mr. Nolan’s office. There, his parents are waiting for him, and there is a contract detailing what happened that has been signed by the Dead Poets (with the exception of Charlie). Todd begs his parents not to make him sign, but eventually he is forced to comply.

The next day, Headmaster Nolan takes over for Mr. Keating in poetry class. He decides that it would be best to start over, so he tells the boys to read aloud from the introduction. They tell him that the pages have all been ripped out. Frustrated, Headmaster Nolan plops his own copy of the book before one of the students and forces him to read. At that time, Mr. Keating appears to gather his belongings. Headmaster Nolan tells him to go ahead. The room is morose as they watch their beloved teacher pack up his materials.

As Mr. Keating is walking out of the room, Todd stands up and shouts for him to wait. He tells him that they were all forced to sign the papers and they know it wasn’t his fault that Neil died. Headmaster Nolan commands Todd to sit back down. However, in a moment of final defiance, Todd instead stands on his desk and faces Mr. Keating. Knox joins, and Pitts, and Meeks. Eventually, nearly half of the class (even those who weren’t in the Dead Poets Society) all stand on their desks as a salute to Mr. Keating: an alliance with the man who changed their lives. Mr. Keating smiles back at them and thanks them. Though they may never cross paths again, none of them will forget the man who allowed them to, for once in their life, think for themselves.