Dead Poets Society

Todd Anderson
By Chelsea Deenen The film Dead Poets Society introduces a wide range of characters from the outgoing and confident Charlie/Noowanda to the love struck Knox to Todd Anderson a quiet and self-conscious person. Though out the film we see Todd change and grow. Todd Anderson is a very quiet and self-conscious type of person. Todd is often sad, depressed and anti-social. Though out the film we get the feeling that Todds par ents have very high expectations of him despite this they pay very little attention to their youngest son. As a result of this pressure Todd often lacks confidence in himself Mr. Anderson sees himself as worthless. He is embarrassed (Mr. Keating). However through the actions of his friends and Mr. Keating Todd slowly begins to grow into a more confident person. For Todd to grow many people had to help him such as Mr. Keating, Mr. Keating is a very believing teacher. In Mr. Keatings first class he reads a poem called To the Virgins the outlin e of this poem is that life is short, Because were all food for worms (Mr. Keating) this saying of Mr. Keatings really makes Todd look at his life. Neil is another factor in Todds growth. Neil also has parents with high expectations, Neil is expected to become a doctor however he wants to become an actor, Neils rebellion against his parents helps Todd relies that he has a say in his life. Neils suicide is by far the biggest eye opener for Todd it really makes him relies how short life is. When Neil P erry commits suicide because he isnt allowed to bec ome an actor it shocks the entire school. Mr. Keating loses his job and is held responsible for putting the idea into Neils head that he can do what he wanted. Neils death has a huge impact on his frien ds dividing them as they have to tell their stories about what has occurred during the year. Todd is the most affected by Neils death and the loose of his favorite

teacher. Both of these people were starting to get through to Todd about believing in himself. When Mr. Keating is fired it greatly affects Todd. Mr. Keating is the first person to show Todd that he is great and he should believe in himself. At the end of the film we really see how far Todd has grown when he stands up on his desk in the middle of class to how much he and his class mates appreciate all that Mr. Keating has done for them. The film Dead Poets Society gives us an in depth view of the growth of the character Todd Anderson, during the film we see Todd grow from a shy, self-conscious person to a strong, independent person willing to stand up for what he believes in.