Examples Of Transcendentalism In Dead Poets Society

“That is weird” “Why would you ever believe that”, judgmental, rude and close minded people run our society today, but what most people seem to always forget about is the Transcendentalist in the world, the people who always seems to see the good in people and in life in general. In the book Self Reliance by Emerson and the movie The Dead Poet Society Directed by Peter Weir, the ideas of transcendentalism are talked about quite frequently. In the movie Dead Poet Society and in the book, strong ideas of transcendentalism are talked about and shown in many examples through the book and through Mr. Keating.
A typical idea of transcendentalism is celebrating the spirit of the individual, in the movie, Mr. Keating shows this aspect …show more content…
This passage is saying that individuals should do what concerns them and not what concerns others, do what one wants not what people want them to do. Most people tend to mainstream themselves in society today, they do what everyone else is doing, they wear the name brand clothes and they judge the people who dare to be themselves. Those are the people who have forgotten that it is OK to be different, and embrace oneself, Emerson believes you should embrace your choices, and celebrate the spirit of the individual whether that be being and individual or following the crowd. Furthermore, In the movie Dead Poet Society directed by Peter Weir, the idea of celebrating the spirit of the individual is commonly portrayed. While in school in Mr. Keating’s class, he was talking about poetry and then gives the boys an assignment to write a poem about anything they want, and the next day they would have to perform it for the class, as they all groan and cry out, Mr. Keating explains why they have to do this and says “You must find your voice before you don't have one at all” (Weir). Keating believes that the boys need to find themselves and learn to embrace their voices and ideas because that is what …show more content…
Keating is a strong transcendentalist, and makes that very clear through his approach to the concept of value of emotion. Throughout the book Self Reliance by Emerson, he talks a lot about emotions and how people need to be in touch with their emotions and to trust what is makes them feel, he says “Trust thyself:every heart vibrates to that iron string” (Emerson 6). What he is saying in this text is that people need to trust themselves and what they feel because everyone is their own person and unique in their own way. The emotions people feel make them who they are and people need to embrace that, and understand that their emotions are felt to help better them as a person. Moving right along, in the movie Mr. Keating talks a lot about how the boys should do what they want and do what makes them feel passionate, and makes that very obvious when Neil comes to him because his father does not want him acting, and he tells him that if that is what he is truly passionate about then he needs to talk to his father and tell him how he feels about acting because is that is what he truly loves he can not give it up that easy (Weir). Mr. Keating believes that if something in life gives someone great passion and makes one feel such strong emotions no matter what the cost, that dream has to be pursued. Keating feels that if in life people must do what gives them happiness, and to do so by listening to what their emotions are telling them and to follow the path it leads you