Why 'Carpe diem'?
Many people asked me this question. Why 'Carpe diem' and what is its meaning? The phrase Carpe diem is Latin for 'seize the day'. And there's a reason why I chose this particular phrase as my blog title.
Have you ever heard about the movie 'Dead Poets Society'?
Sometime back in 2011, one day I happened to watch to this beautiful movie, Dead Poets Society. There it struck me, 'Carpe diem'. Released in 1989, this classic is the story of an English teacher who inspired his students to seize the day. The plot of this movie is simple conveying a strong message of living today to the fullest. Two youngsters, Neil Perry and Todd Anderson, join the prestigious institution, Welton Academy and discover their passion for acting and writing eventually. But their parents have different plans for them. Neil's parents want him to become a doctor and Todd's want to see him as a lawyer. Their new English teacher, John Keating, teaches the students to look at the world in a different way. Though his unconventional teaching methods are not really appreciated by the Welton Academy, the students slowly develop a liking to Keating and his teachings. As the movie continues, Neil auditions for the role of Puck from the Shakespearean play, A Midsummer's Night Dream. But his father orders him to withdraw. Keating advises Neil to talk to his father and tell him about his love for acting. Neil being afraid of talking to his father, performs at the play. His father furious about this, comes to a decision of enrolling him in a military school to carry on with his career in medicine. Neil having a tough time dealing with his dreams for acting and his father's wish to make him a doctor, ends up committing suicide. This part of the movie is my favorite. Neil had a dream, like many of us. He had worked hard for it. Then why did he had to commit suicide? He failed in making his father understand what he felt like being an actor. Sure there is a Neil Perry in everyone of us. Here the point is to follow your dreams no matter what happens and not to give up. If only Neil didn't die, sooner or later his dad would've tried to understand his son's feelings. My version of Neil Perry is not the one who dies of fright, but the one who is bold enough to face the life's challenges and make the right choices. One day, you have to speak up, or else how do you expect any one to know what is on your mind.
There are many such interesting parts where the students secretly restart the school literary club, "Dead Poets Society", to which Keating belonged as a former student of Welton Academy. At the club they read the works of those famous poets who were marked by the society as unorthodox. Keating through his lessons tells the kids to love poetry and appreciate it's beauty and not merely rate the quality of poetry with a mathematical formula. And when the headmaster Nolan, gets to know about the Dead Poets Society, he forces the students to sign a document saying that Keating was responsible for provoking his students to revive the club and making Neil go against his father's wish which is why Neil had committed suicide. Todd who knew that Keating wasn't the person behind all of it, sees almost everyone sign the document and is compelled by his father to sign too. As a result, Keating is fired.
And the best part is when Todd reveals to Keating that the students didn't sign the document out of their own will. As Keating is about to leave the Academy, Todd stands up on desk and says, "O Captain! My Captain!" which is something Keating taught his students. Also the rest of the students rise up on their feet to follow Todd. Keating leaves with a smile on his face, contended.
Life is never easy, well not always. Goals, ambitions, career, responsibilities, family, friends, life is this hectic that it is quite difficult even to breathe at times. The only thing we can do is to live today, forget the past and not bother about the future. Life is normal, when you think it is. Try to change the way you are looking at it, life is then full of surprises I believe. Carpe diem is what I believe. Seize the day.
This is my take on the movie Dead Poets Society. I insist you, my reader, to watch it.
"I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately, I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, To put to rout all that was not life and not when I had come to die Discover that I had not lived"
~ Henry David Thoreau
The best scenes of DPS -
Have you ever heard about the movie 'Dead Poets Society'?
Sometime back in 2011, one day I happened to watch to this beautiful movie, Dead Poets Society. There it struck me, 'Carpe diem'. Released in 1989, this classic is the story of an English teacher who inspired his students to seize the day. The plot of this movie is simple conveying a strong message of living today to the fullest. Two youngsters, Neil Perry and Todd Anderson, join the prestigious institution, Welton Academy and discover their passion for acting and writing eventually. But their parents have different plans for them. Neil's parents want him to become a doctor and Todd's want to see him as a lawyer. Their new English teacher, John Keating, teaches the students to look at the world in a different way. Though his unconventional teaching methods are not really appreciated by the Welton Academy, the students slowly develop a liking to Keating and his teachings. As the movie continues, Neil auditions for the role of Puck from the Shakespearean play, A Midsummer's Night Dream. But his father orders him to withdraw. Keating advises Neil to talk to his father and tell him about his love for acting. Neil being afraid of talking to his father, performs at the play. His father furious about this, comes to a decision of enrolling him in a military school to carry on with his career in medicine. Neil having a tough time dealing with his dreams for acting and his father's wish to make him a doctor, ends up committing suicide. This part of the movie is my favorite. Neil had a dream, like many of us. He had worked hard for it. Then why did he had to commit suicide? He failed in making his father understand what he felt like being an actor. Sure there is a Neil Perry in everyone of us. Here the point is to follow your dreams no matter what happens and not to give up. If only Neil didn't die, sooner or later his dad would've tried to understand his son's feelings. My version of Neil Perry is not the one who dies of fright, but the one who is bold enough to face the life's challenges and make the right choices. One day, you have to speak up, or else how do you expect any one to know what is on your mind.
There are many such interesting parts where the students secretly restart the school literary club, "Dead Poets Society", to which Keating belonged as a former student of Welton Academy. At the club they read the works of those famous poets who were marked by the society as unorthodox. Keating through his lessons tells the kids to love poetry and appreciate it's beauty and not merely rate the quality of poetry with a mathematical formula. And when the headmaster Nolan, gets to know about the Dead Poets Society, he forces the students to sign a document saying that Keating was responsible for provoking his students to revive the club and making Neil go against his father's wish which is why Neil had committed suicide. Todd who knew that Keating wasn't the person behind all of it, sees almost everyone sign the document and is compelled by his father to sign too. As a result, Keating is fired.
And the best part is when Todd reveals to Keating that the students didn't sign the document out of their own will. As Keating is about to leave the Academy, Todd stands up on desk and says, "O Captain! My Captain!" which is something Keating taught his students. Also the rest of the students rise up on their feet to follow Todd. Keating leaves with a smile on his face, contended.
Life is never easy, well not always. Goals, ambitions, career, responsibilities, family, friends, life is this hectic that it is quite difficult even to breathe at times. The only thing we can do is to live today, forget the past and not bother about the future. Life is normal, when you think it is. Try to change the way you are looking at it, life is then full of surprises I believe. Carpe diem is what I believe. Seize the day.
This is my take on the movie Dead Poets Society. I insist you, my reader, to watch it.
"I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately, I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, To put to rout all that was not life and not when I had come to die Discover that I had not lived"
~ Henry David Thoreau
The best scenes of DPS -
Soumya
Inavilli
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