Keating is telling the boys that death is something that happens every day, so don’t waste life and give something a go before you die. Mr Keating persuades Neil to become a free thinker and to do things his own way. This is shown when Neil comes running into the room screaming “I found it! What I want to do right now, what’s really, really inside of me” he shows Todd the midsummer night’s dream poem. The director Peter Weir put this poem in to juxtapose puck and Neil, showing how much that he wants to act. The close up of him screaming “carpe diem” show that he really wants to act despite what his father wants. There is then a low spinning camera shot, symbolising, him moving forward in his life, “and for the first time I’m going to do it, whether my father wants me to or not” this scene is shown with a low angle on Todd showing his disbelief, juxtaposed with the high camera angle on Neil, showing his romanticised view on the situation. This shows that people respond to opportunities in different ways and that our perception of obstacles is all different. Mr. Keating helps Todd learn about being himself and having free thought. This is shown through the scene of them reading out their poems in