Dead Poets Society

Todd Anderson is new to Welton Academy, and the younger brother of the Academy’s finest students. When he first arrives, he grapples with social anxiety, finding it extremely difficult to speak in front of others. He is hesitant at first to make friends with his classmates, and often keeps to himself instead of joining in the group studies. However, Neil eventually befriends Todd (who is his roommate) and coaxes him out of the room.

As the novel progresses, Todd slowly begins to find his voice. Mr. Keating pushes him to face his fears and exposes what is at the root of them. He tells Todd, and the class, “Mr. Anderson believes that everything he has inside of him is worthless and embarrassing” (74). Mr. Keating then pulls Todd to his feet and asks him to create a poem on the spot. Todd’s poem turns out to be beautiful and has the class on the edge of their seats. This moment is critical for growing Todd’s confidence.

Todd eventually begins to confide more in Neil; out of the boys, he is certainly Todd’s best friend. Todd tells Neil that his parents make him feel invisible. Sometimes he envies Neil’s overbearing father because at least he pays attention to Neil.

At the end of the novel, Todd finally finds his voice when he leads the group in an act of defiance to show his support for Mr. Keating. He interrupts the class to tell Mr. Keating they didn’t want him to leave, and they don’t blame him for Neil’s death. Then, despite Headmaster Nolan’s warnings, Todd steps up onto his desk and faces Mr. Keating. Todd has emerged from his class a leader who knows that what’s inside of him is worthwhile.

Neil Perry is the leader of the Dead Poets Society and roommate of newcomer Todd Anderson. He is an excellent student and beloved by his friends and teachers alike. Neil’s passions and aspirations for life are in constant conflict with those of his father, Mr. Perry, who is set on Neil becoming a doctor. The Perrys are “not a rich family” (123) like most of the other Welton students, so Neil’s parents have placed the burden of their future financial security onto Neil’s shoulders. Neil begins the novel by making feeble attempts to stand up against his father, all of which end in him quietly resigning to Mr. Perry’s wishes.

Once Neil starts to discover the ideas of freedom and expression in Mr. Keating’s class, he starts to become more daring in his attempts to make his own path in life. Henley Hall, the sister school to Welton, hosts open auditions for William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Neil, who has always wanted to act, decides to forge a permission slip from his father and Headmaster Nolan so he can participate. He is given the role of Puck, and the play brings him an extraordinary amount of joy.

When Mr. Perry finds out and demands that he drop the play on the eve of the performance, Neil starts to feel panicked. He asks Mr. Keating for advice and is told to be honest with his father. Ultimately Neil is too afraid and simply continues with the play anyway. After observing Neil in the play, Mr. Perry brings Neil home, furious, and informs Neil that he will be shipped off to boarding school, then to medical school: The next 10 years of his life are planned.

Neil, feeling trapped by his father’s demands, ultimately dies by suicide later that night. His death leaves an enormous hole in the Dead Poets Society and sparks the investigation that leads to Mr. Keating’s termination. However, his death also makes the final gesture by the English class that much more meaningful. It is not merely a salute to Mr. Keating but also a protest against the systems, expectations, and pressures that led to Neil’s death.

Knox Overstreet is the true romantic of the group. He is a handsome boy, with “short curly hair, an outgoing smile, and an athletic build” (3). His father is a well-to-do lawyer, and it is expected that Knox will follow in his footsteps. Once he meets Chris Noel (who is dating a popular football player, Chet) at the Danburrys, he falls for her and can focus on little else besides winning her heart. He soaks up all that Mr. Keating has to say about romance and poetry and how to use words to express matters of the heart.

As his love and knowledge of poetry grows, so does his courage. After an embarrassing incident at a house party, Knox rides his bike to Chris’s school and confesses his feelings for her in front of her entire class. Although she is embarrassed by his gesture, she does agree to attend Neil’s play with Knox. There, the sparks of attraction can be seen from both parties, and it’s implied that the two of them will begin a relationship.

Charlie Dalton, the son of a prominent banker, is another promising young student at Welton. “Charlie ha[s] a handsome, preppy look about him,” and is more of a troublemaker than his classmates. Mr. Keating’s class gives him a newfound confidence, and he starts to embrace the idea of living life to the fullest.

One night he brings a saxophone to the cave, where he performs a poem he wrote with bursts of blaring sax between the lines. He ends the poem with a “simple but breathtaking melody” (78). The boys are stunned at their friend’s hidden talent. He tells them that he was forced to study the clarinet, but his real love is for the saxophone.

Charlie is a major flirt and learns to work the poetry he’s studying to win over girls. He brings two girls into a meeting of the Dead Poets Society and announces to the group that from now on he will only answer to “Nuwanda” (91), a name he made up for himself. In one of his more egregious stunts, he publishes an anonymous article (authored by The Dead Poets Society, which until this point is a secret group) in the school paper, petitioning for Welton to start accepting girls at school. He soon blows his own cover when, at an assembly to investigate the matter, Charlie jokingly answers a phone call that he claims is from God, who says that Welton should allow girls at the school. Charlie is taken into Headmaster Nolan’s office for interrogation and corporal punishment. Nolan demands that Charlie tell him about the Dead Poets Society, but Charlie refuses, and instead takes the punishment.

At the end of the novel, Charlie is the only original member of the Dead Poets Society who blatantly refuses to sign the letter that convicts Mr. Keating. He is expelled, but his absence is felt in the final scene of the book.

Richard Cameron is another key figure in Dead Poets Society. Of all the boys, he is the most rigid about following the rules and avoiding punishment. In many ways, he is representative of all the young men who are too afraid to follow Mr. Keating’s advice, and end up continuing the cycle of conformity. Though Cameron reaps the benefits of Mr. Keating’s class and the Dead Poets Society, he eventually turns his back on it all to save himself.

When Charlie attacks him for trying to place the blame on Mr. Keating, Cameron defends his actions, saying that what’s happening to Mr. Keating is inevitable. He tells his classmates, “I say let Keating fry. Why ruin our lives?” (156). When the rest of the Dead Poets stand on their desks at the end of the novel, Cameron is notably still in his seat. Cameron serves as a foil for the other poets: He was given the same opportunities to find his own voice in life, but ultimately gave in to his fears.

Headmaster Nolan, “a husky man in his early sixties” (1), is in charge of Welton Academy. He is immensely proud of the standards his school has for its students, and the long-standing history of producing successful, mostly Ivy League-bound graduates. He is the walking example for the four pillars of Welton, “Tradition! Honor! Discipline! Excellence!” (3), and expects the same of his students and teachers. He is the figurehead for tradition, specifically tradition that imprisons young minds and discourages individuality.

Mr. Nolan serves as one of the two antagonistic forces in the novel (along with Mr. Perry) in all that he does to keep the students from thinking for themselves. He is directly opposed to Mr. Keating’s teaching style and eventually leads the process to investigate and fire Mr. Keating.

Chris Noel is a beautiful, blonde cheerleader who is dating Chet Danburry, the son of Knox’s father’s friends. She is the primary love interest in the novel, and it doesn’t take her long to win Knox’s devotion. She is friendly to Knox from the beginning and is pleased when Knox gives her a call at home. She had planned on inviting him to a party but didn’t know how to reach him.

At the party, Knox drunkenly starts to touch Chris while she’s making out with Chet. Once Chet realizes what is happening, he is furious, but Chris makes an (albeit unsuccessful) attempt to protect Knox. After Knox comes to her school to apologize and profess his feelings, Chris shows up at Welton to warn Knox that Chet might come looking for him. She is deeply embarrassed by his actions but is willing to overlook that to protect him from Chet. In the end, it’s implied that their friendship may soon turn into something more.