“Carpe. Carpe Diem. Seize the day boys, make your lives extraordinary,” Mr. Keating once told a classroom full of high school students, bright eyed with their whole lives ahead of them (DPS 1989). Dead Poet’s Society depicts the impacts of trying to live your best life and following of the mantra of Carpe Diem. The characters’ decisions of conforming, not conforming and questioning their teacher dictates each individual’s experience.
For one of the main characters, Neil Perry, Mr. Keating’s teachings offer him the opportunity to think for himself, sacrifice and make his own decisions. He decides that he wants to be an actor despite his father’s wishes. He explains his plan to his roommate Todd, “For the first time in my whole life I know what I wanna do. And for the first time I’m gonna do it whether my father wants me to or not” (DPS 1989). During the 1950s, when Dead Poet’s Society took place, a career in the acting field was not admirable, especially to many parents. Neil did not care because his happiness was his main goal. He was willing to take a chance on himself and prove a point to his father in the process. His willingness to take a chance, though the repercussions may not be good, represents his nonconformist approach to the intricate web we call life.
I find that the most successful people are those who do not care about societal pressures. The world, for as long as I have known it and longer, has tried to convince people to be modest because it will make one seem more approachable and likable. If you are those things, you are more likely to be happier and enjoying an incredible existence. Rap music in the modern age is a perfect explanation to why that common theory does not work. The most popular rappers must promote themselves and their work in order to find the utmost success and contentment in life. Kanye West said once in an interview, "For me to say I wasn’t a genius,I would just be lying to you and myself,” (Franco).
He acknowledges his talent because he knows he must be honest. If he were to lie, people would not know how he truly feels about himself and that would just be corrupt. West is not the only rapper that ever lived to be this boastful, though he takes it to another extreme. Eric B. and Rakim as well as Will Smith have been known to do this same thing.
In fact, the nonconformity and self-promotion in creative outlets goes way beyond rap music in the modern era. Some may say it began with the great poet, Walt Whitman. In an article written by James Franco, he describes him saying, “Whitman holds just short of extolling himself as the greatest poet that ever lived” (Franco). As a poet, Whitman’s work is inspiring to those artists that came after him because he didn’t care. At the time, it was uncommon to promote your own work in reviews or just within the work itself, but he did not care. It did not matter to Whitman that his society was judging him for his actions because he was happy with the results. He knew that was the way for him to seize his existence: to be his truest, most authentic self. His quote, “I celebrate myself,” (Whitman) would ring true now as he would be happy with how his work is viewed today and the legacy he has left behind.
Risk is a necessary aspect of the knowingness that you attempted to be the most genuine person possible. Similarly to the chances that Whitman took with his writing style, T.J. from the short story Antaeus was willing to give a passion everything he had in order to accomplish a goal. His rooftop garden did not work out due to the authority and tradition of his new home, but he did not let it stop him. He wanted to be responsible for the destruction of his masterpiece, just as he was responsible for its creation. It hurt him to destroy something he worked so hard on as the author writes, “T.J. stood for a moment, his breathing slowing from anger and effort, caught into the same contemplation of destruction as all of us” (Deal), but he knew his risk had failed and he had to accept the consequences. T.J. decided that the garden was important to him and he was willing to take “a radical break from tradition” (Mashup Poem) in order to pursue his passion. He put himself out there in a vulnerable way because he was after something greater than disappointment or embarrassment, pure joy in his everyday life.
On the contrary, some may say that nonconformity is not the correct message of Carpe Diem because it can lead to dangerous actions in pursuit of individuality and happiness. In Dead Poet’s Society, Neil does audition for A Midsummer Night’s Dream and gets the main role. After his father watches his performance, he forces him to go home and to enroll in military school. Later in the night, Neil commits suicide because he knows he cannot be happy living his life by his father’s standards. Mr. Perry and the school that Neil went to blamed Mr. Keating’s Carpe Diem teachings
for the rash actions and ultimately, his death. They blamed the nonconformity and the quest for finding one’s true identity, that Mr. Keating suggested to his students everyday, as the main factor that contributed to Neil’s attitude.
The responses to unorthodox behavior displayed in Dead Poet’s Society as well as within my daily life are sometimes very dramatic in a negative way. Because of this, I can’t help but wonder if people put on a false sense of happiness as a cover. They are too scared to challenge themselves to be different from the norm or to go after their true passions. Some don’t want to have to explain their decisions to others because they fear the judgement that would potentially be associated.
Are people scared of nonconformity because it is not simple and requires more deliberation in comparison to conformity? The necessity to follow tradition is often a societal pressure that can hold people back from living their best, most fulfilling life. Conformity has the potential to be just as dangerous as nonconformity if it does not result in happiness, now doesn’t it? Is it worth it to be unhappy, but know that you are living a typical, socially accepted life? Or should you not succumb to the pressure of the community and be your own person, blazing your own trail, taking risks as you see fit?
The only thing that can be said is, make sure you are 100% happy with the life you chose because there is only one. Cherish each moment while you have it because in the blink of an eye, who knows where you’ll be.
