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Gary Griffis

Mrs. Baker

Literary Analysis

05 November 2018

Rebellious Beginnings

A rebellion is practically guaranteed when people are locked into conformity. When

everything, and everybody, is the same someone will go against the standard and start fighting

back. In the book ​Fahrenheit 451 ​by Ray Bradbury, and the film ​Dead Poets Society, ​characters

Guy Montag, and Mr. Keating experience rebellion and conformity by going against lead figures,

doing what they believe in, and paying a major price in the end.

Everyone has a sense of self pride and determination. By nature, people don’t like to be

controlled by other people and will eventually fight back. In the book, Guy Montag’s newly

founded ideas are sparked by a little girl named Clarisse. After speaking with Clarisse, Guy

seriously started thinking about what type of life he was leading and knew that he wasn’t living

his own life. Guy started to defy the control of his Captain by lying to him on multiple occasions

about the location of some missing books, and as to whether he has been reading books. Guy

Montag was also reading books which ties into his lying to Captain Beatty. This was especially

strange because Montag’s job as a fireman was to burn every book he saw, and to report anyone

who is reading them. Whereas in the movie, Mr. Keating is the new teacher at the school and he

isn’t quite like the others. Mr. Keating uses more diverse and unique methods to not only teach

his kids, but also to get them thinking. Mr. Keating tells his class, “‘Gather ye rosebuds while ye

may’”(“Dead”). This sparked the entire storyline of the movie.

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Both characters, Keating and Montag, do whatever it takes to follow their beliefs and not

succumb to a standard way of living. At one point guy Montag was caught, and he found himself

standing in front of his own home with his captain saying, “‘Now you ​did​ it. Old Montag wanted

to fly near the sun and now that he’s burnt his damn wings, he wonders why, Didn’t I hint

enough when I sent the Hound around your place?’”(Bradbury 107). Even after he had to burn

his own house down, Montag continued to pursue his beliefs in reading and the power it had.

Guy Montag let nothing stop him from achieving his goals. Mr. Keating found himself in a

similar situation when he was addressed by not only his fellow teachers, but also the head of the

school for his unique methods. At the beginning of the movie one of the other teachers walked

by Keating’s room saw the boys tearing up the book pages and yelled for them to stop. Little did

he know, at the time, Keating told the boys to do this. Something Keating does more than

Montag is help others with his own goals. Guy Montag is helped by his fellow characters,

whereas Keating helps his fellow characters. Keating is seen giving advice to the boys on

multiple occasions notably when he told Neil to pursue his dream of being an actor. Keating told

Neil to tell his father how he really felt about acting and to go to the place despite Mr. Perry’s

warnings to Neil. Everytime Keating gives advice to one of the boys it goes to show how much

he cares about them, and how he wants them to follow their dreams.

Unfortunately, both Mr. Keating and Guy Montag pay an ultimate price for their

rebellious activities. Guy Montag lost everything; he lost his job, he lost his house, and he even

lost his city. In the end of the book the city was devastated by a bombing. Mr. Keating also elost;

he lost his boys, and he lost his job. Mr. Keating tells the boys thank you for respecting him

during his final moments at the school. He wanted the boys to be sure that he wasn’t angry with
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them, and he knew that they did what they had to do to secure their futures, something he has

been teaching them all along. Despite the loss, things were looking good for both Montag and

Keating. Montag was now left with the opportunity of rebuilding with the survivors, and Keating

left the school knowing that this beloved students would become successful in their future.

Both ​Fahrenheit 451​ and ​Dead Poets Society​ go to show that rebellion is directly related

to conformity in such that there is no reason to conform without rebels, and there is no reason to

rebel without conformity. There is always someone who will go against the standard set by

society, and start their own movement towards what they believe is better. Mr. Keating and Guy

Montag took this ideology to the extreme by risking everything, in the end, losing everything.

Every loss endured by both Keating and Montag was embraced to benefit the greater good of

their goals.
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Works Cited

Bradbury, Ray. ​Fahrenheit 451.​ Simon and Schuster, 1951.

Dead Poets Society.​ Directed by Peter Weir. Touchstone Pictures, Jan. 1989.