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Haley Kopkau
Mrs. Baker
Literary Analysis
4 December 2013
Seize the Day
H.L. Mencken once said, It doesnt take a majority to make a rebellion; it takes only a
few determined leaders and a sound cause. People can accomplish anything if they believe in
their cause and dont succumb to the opposition they face. The characters in the book
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and in the movie Dead Poets Society rebel against the idea of
conformity by challenging authority, stand up for themselves and their beliefs, and live up to the
idea of Carpe Diem, or Seize the Day.
The characters in each of these stories challenge authority in several ways. In Fahrenheit
451, the main character, Guy Montag, defies his superior, Captain Beatty, at the fire department
at which he works. In Montags dystopian society, it is illegal to obtain books of any sort that
could give the people intelligence; it is Montags job, as a fireman, to destroy these illegal books.
When it is discovered that Montag has a hidden stash of these books, it is apparent he is
challenging not only Beatty, but also the control of society. Montag blinked. Beatty was
looking at him as if he were a museum statue. At any moment, Beatty might rise and walk about
him, touching, exploring his guilt and self-consciousness. Guilt? What guilt was that?
(Bradbury 33). There are similarities in the movie Dead Poets Society. The setting of this movie
is at a private school in which conformity is not suggested, but required. A new teacher named
Mr. Keating stresses the idea of individualism to his students and the boys quickly follow his
lead; eager to learn. Mr. Keating, himself, challenges the authority of the strict school board, as

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do the boys as they begin disrupting the solid flow of discipline in the school. Unlike Fahrenheit
451, it is not just one person, but a group of men working to become individuals, not part of a
mold. For example, Mr. Keating held an exercise in the courtyard where the boys were
instructed to find their own step, speed, and type of walk. Mr. Keating and Guy Montag are very
much alike in the way that they both encourage others to think for themselves. This was
challenging the very morals of the disciplined school. Although the story of Mr. Keating is much
more realistic than that of Guy Montag, they are very similar in the idea that people should stand
up for what they believe in, even if that means standing alone.
These stories stress the idea that the characters should stand up for themselves and their
beliefs. In Dead Poets Society, when Mr. Keating gets blamed for the death of a student as a
result of his lessons, the boys initially put him at fault. The boys show their weakness to
opposition when they made him take the blame for their friends suicide. At the end of the
movie; however, the boys showed their true support for him by standing on their desks and
referring to him as My Captain, as he had told them to do on the first day in reference to Walt
Whitmans poem O Captain! My Captain! The meekest of the students were the first to stand up
for his beliefs as he climbed atop his desk; this showed how he had evolved from timid to brave
in voicing his beliefs. One boy even got expelled because he refused to turn in Mr. Keating.
Unlike the boys, Guy never had any doubt or weakness in his rebellion; similarly, when Mr.
Keating was fired, he never showed weakness. As soon as Montag had the idea in his head that
he would revive the need for books, he never faltered. Montag stood up for himself when he
read a poem to his wifes friends, even as they cried he continued his strength of words. He also
voiced his beliefs as he killed Captain Beatty and the Mechanical Hound, or robot dog, which
protected the controlling society. Characters in both of the stories stood up for themselves and

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their beliefs in the face of opposition; some characters may have had a steadier hold on their
beliefs, but all of them fought for the same goal.
In Dead Poets Society, Mr. Keating preached the idea of Carpe Diem. This was a major
theme throughout both Fahrenheit 451 and Dead Poets Society. Ray Bradbury, the author of
Fahrenheit 451, brought in this idea when Montag decided to escape the society. Montags only
friend, Faber, helped him escape the city to find others that believed in the knowledge that books
held. Montag had to seize the opportunity and put his plan into action; he seized the day when
he escaped the city by river, into uncharted waters. As Montag left behind his wife and the
bodies of Captain Beatty and the Mechanical Hound, he emerged into the theme of Carpe Diem.
The boys in the movie also believed in Carpe Diem. After Mr. Keating explained the idea of
this on their first day, the boys began to live the idea. They began breaking the mold at their
strict school and they recreated a club that Mr. Keating had once been a member of, The Dead
Poets Society. The members would sneak out of the school to read aloud the works of many
poets or original pieces. Charlie, a particularly rebellious member of the club, even went so far
as to ask for girls to be accepted into their school. Another boy seized the day when he entered a
play; this boy, Neil, committed suicide later in the movie. Neil felt pressured by his father to
conform, but he killed himself rather than be overcome by the feeling of nothingness. Mr.
Keating helped Neil find happiness in individuality, but when his father threatened to relinquish
this individuality he felt his only option was to take his life. If anyone is responsible for Neils
death, it is his father. Both the movie and the book instilled the idea of seizing the day into
their characters, and they began to suck to the marrow out of life, just as Mr. Keating had
advised his students to do (Dead Poets Society).

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Although Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and Dead Poets Society appear different, they
share many of the same themes. The characters in both stories show strength in overcoming
conformity; they rebel against the idea that people cannot think for themselves. The characters
did so by challenging authority, standing up for themselves and their beliefs, and by living up to
the idea of Carpe Diem. One of Mr. Keatings favorite poets, Walt Whitman, once said, Resist
much, obey little, (Leaves of Grass). This quote helps to summarize the main theme in both
stories; the characters resisted the discipline of their dystopian societies.

Works Cited

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Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. New York: The Ballantine Publishing Group, 1953. Print.
Dead Poets Society. Dir. Peter Weir. Perf. Robin Williams, Robert Sean Leonard, and Ethan
Hawke. Buena Vista Pictures, 1989. DVD.
Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass. Philadelphia: David McKay, 1900. Web.