Introduction
The book I selected to read was called "Dead Poets Society" written by N.H.Kleinbaum in 1989.This story was made into a movie about 10 years ago starred by Robin Williams. The story was taken at a solemn preparatory school called Welton Academy, had a new English professor John Keating. Inspired by Keating, the boys resurrect the Dead Poets Society. As Keating turns the boys on to the great words of poets, they discover not only the beauty of language, but also the importance of making each moment count symbolized by the saying "seize the day". However, they soon realize that their newfound freedom can have tragic consequences...

Setting
The story was taken place at a traditional preparatory school in Vermont, the United States in 1959, which marks the hundreth year of the school's existence. The state of Vermont is located north-east part of America, neighboring Canadian boarder. Since the name "Vermont" came from "Vert mont" which means green mountain in French, it is often referred as "The Green Mountain State".
The story was set in 1959, which was before the Beatles' big hit. It was not easy thing for young people to insist their opinions in public. As soon as they did, they were labeled as a "social misfit" as you can see in the movie "Rebel Without a Cause" in 1955.Teachers and fathers were the absolute being in that time.

Point of view
The author tells the story from the view of outside the story through these 15 chapters in this book. However, the story is focused on the changes of students who were all 16-year-old boys, especially on Todd Anderson who was a transfer student, and the relationship between the boys and their new English professor, the flamboyant John Keating.

Conflict
Since Welton Academy is a very strict school which has been sending lots of students into Ivy League schools every year, the teachers bound students by rules and do hard classes in order to send more students into better universities. The parents also want their children to get accepted into good universities and get a good job in the future. Keating has opposite opinion to them. He taught his student the importance of expressing themselves freely in their own words not bounding by anybody. So, there was a conflict between the spirit of loving liberty by Keating and the spirit of controlled education supported by the teachers and parents.

Climax
It should be where Todd jumped up on his desk calling out, "O captain! My captain!" to Keating, staring his eyes and he stared back him even in the middle of class when Keating was leaving school because of the expulsion. Todd did that to represent reverence and gratitude for Keating. He used to be really shy and quiet boy when he first met Keating. As he took his classes, he started to change in a positive way. He learned the joy of expressing himself through poetry, he also got over some hard time such as his friend Neil Perry's death by committing suicide. He grew up as a real human being with beloved teacher Keating's assistant.

Plot
John Keating himself is a graduate of Welton Academy. He set up "Dead Poets Society" when he was there. Inspired Keating, the boys resurrect the Dead Poets Society; a secret club where, free from the constrains and expectations of school and parents, they let their passions run wild. Keating had taught the importance of expressing themselves in their own words. The teachers and parents did not have good impression on what he taught to the students. On the other hand, the boys were approaching the real freedom little by little. Neil found what he really wanted to do, which was playing, in spite of his father's disapproval. Just after his first play on the stage, his father made him to quit school which leads to the worst tragedy in the story; Neil committed suicide. Keating ended up being expelled from school, a conflict for freedom has failed, the controlled education system by teachers will probably revive.

Symbol
The story is symbolized by the saying "carpe diem" in Latin which means "seize the day". Keating wanted to say that the students should think carefully and choose what they really want to do, choose their lives, by telling this famous saying. Nevertheless the students had to go back to the education system controlled by teachers, which used to be before Keating had come.

Irony
It ought to be the point that Keating himself is a graduate of Welton Academy who grew up in the strict education system controlled by teachers and parents there. Although, when he came back to his old school as a teacher, he taught his students the importance to relieve themselves from the teachers and parents' expectations or pressures which is a thought quite different from school's policy. That means the principle of Welton Academy's education did not mean much to him in his life.

Theme
The story depicts friendships, anxieties and raptures to live and delicate state of minds for their growths among adolescent boys. For those boys, Keating was a captain who tried to take them out to a difficult voyage for the freedom, a fanciful revolutionary who aims at the reform of the school system. It seems to be too hasty for the boys to change their lives. A consciousness of freedom sometimes makes the boys unhappy. a revolutionary sometimes victimize people around him.

Conclusion
I think it is sad that most of students at Welton Academy could not have any choice for what they wanted to do or what kind of job they wanted to get in the future. I guess there is same kind of tendency here in Japan as well. Many children seem to be under a lot of pressure of their parents and teachers. Teenagers should experience various kinds of things before they become adults. It is kind of scary that people did not experience a lot but study in their youth get a good job and treated as elites.
I really enjoyed reading this book as much as the movie. I was impressed by the beauty of the word "thank you" when Keating said it to the students when he left school. It is a magic word which can make the world better place.

The book I read was:
DEAD POETS SOCIETY
a novel by N.H.Kleinbaum
published in July,1989