Conformity In Dead Poets Society

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My project was created to answer the question, ‘how does conforming to societal expectations damage our sense of individuality?’ I was first inspired whilst watching Dead Poets Society. Throughout the duration of the film, Mr. Keating emphasizes the importance of being an individual and having independent thoughts of your own, and his students do try and achieve this. But while trying to do so, they are also shut down by school officials, who want them to all be identical, and follow standards. This set off a series of notions in my head and made me analyze how I live my own life. Was I just another person conforming to ideals generated by others? I knew without giving it a second thought that I most definitely did try to fit in for the most part. Who wants to be the ‘weird’ kid? …show more content…
That’s exactly what society wants- for you to join the main group. Another piece, titled Self-Reliance, describes how we as people don’t make many choices for ourselves. According to Emerson, “...our arts, our occupations, our marriages, our religion, we have not chosen, but society has chosen for us.” This quote goes to show exactly how much society has decided for us. It tells us what is acceptable and what is not, and by conforming to the expectations created for us, we erase a part of ourselves. Ralph Waldo Emerson puts emphasis on how difficult it is to be yourself in a world constantly trying to morph people into someone they’re not: “to be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you someone else is the greatest accomplishment.” By letting yourself be consumed by the expectations society gives you and becoming them, you let the unique thoughts and special quirks you have get muffled, and you become someone else. This project means a lot to me because it’s making me comprehend the destruction society can cause on who a person is, as well as how easy it is to strive to be considered “normal” in
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