In Peter Weir’s 1989 film, English teacher John Keating brings new methods to a strict boarding school. The students blossom, the school fights back, and when a crisis comes, Keating stands alone. The film shows Machiavelli’s unarmed prophet.
A golden circle is pushed up an arc; at the top, a few teal dots push back hard, and at the bottom a large area of mist-blue dots lies still, and the circle rolls back. On the second attempt, dots break away from the area and help push, a teal dot from the top switches over to the circle, and the circle reaches the crest.
Principle #50
Resistance to the New: If you introduce a new order, you face the winners of the old one as determined opponents and have the future winners only as hesitant helpers; that is why change needs more strength, support and patience than its good reasons would suggest.
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Contents
Niccolò Machiavelli distinguishes between reformers who rely on their own strength and those who depend on pleading and persuasion. The former prevail; the latter fail, no matter how good their cause. “Dead Poets Society” tells the story of a teacher who has nothing but persuasion – a story of Resistance to the New. Robin Williams plays John Keating; Ethan Hawke and Robert Sean Leonard play two of his students.
Four dots stand high on their desks while a golden dot walks out through the open door – as in “Dead Poets Society.”
01
A school of tradition
Situation
The story takes place in 1959 at Welton Academy, a boys’ boarding school in Vermont. The school is proud of its pillars: tradition, honor, discipline and excellence. The parents pay a lot and expect their sons to get into good universities and secure careers. Headmaster Nolan watches over this order.
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The old order has many beneficiaries: the school’s leadership, the parents, the teachers who teach by it. They all profit from predictability. If you want to change something here, you are calling into question not only methods but life plans.
02
A teacher who teaches differently
Situation
Keating, himself a former Welton student, has his class rip out the introduction to their poetry textbook, which rates poems by a formula. He has the students climb onto his desk one after another so that they see the world from a different perspective. He encourages the boys to think for themselves and find their own path.
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Keating’s new approach is attractive, but it has no safeguards. He has no allies among the faculty, no backing from the school’s leadership, no results he could point to. He relies solely on the power of enthusiasm. Machiavelli would say: a prophet without weapons.
03
The club
Situation
The students discover that as a student Keating belonged to a secret club, the “Dead Poets Society.” They revive it and meet at night in a cave to read poems. One of them publishes an article in the school newspaper proposing that girls be admitted to Welton and is punished. Neil Perry discovers his passion for the theater and acts in a production against his father’s will.
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The new finds followers, but they are young, vulnerable and dependent on their parents and the school. They cannot protect Keating. The enthusiasm is genuine, but it has no power.
04
The crisis
Situation
After the performance, Neil’s father takes him out of the school and wants to send him to a military academy. Shortly afterward, Neil takes his own life. The school and the parents need someone to blame. One student incriminates Keating, and the others are pressured into signing a statement against him. Almost all of them sign. Keating is dismissed.
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Here the film shows the core of Machiavelli’s statement. The opponents of the new act decisively and as one. The followers are lukewarm, not out of malice but out of fear. When things get serious, the reformer stands alone.
05
The farewell
Situation
Headmaster Nolan takes over Keating’s class and has the introduction read again. When Keating comes to collect his things, several students, led by Todd Anderson, climb onto their desks despite Nolan’s threats.
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The old order wins, but not completely. The students’ gesture shows that the new lives on in their minds. The film leaves open whether anything more will come of it. For reformers, this is an important thought: some changes take effect later, in the people who experienced them.
Key takeaways
Key lessons
01
Enthusiasm alone does not protect a change.
02
Find allies with influence before you question what people are used to.
03
Be prepared for your followers to fall silent in a crisis.
04
Pay attention to whom you put at risk with your new approach.
05
Sometimes a change lives on in people even when it fails in the system.
Summary
“Dead Poets Society” shows a teacher who opens up new paths and fails against the old order. He has enthusiasm, but no allies, no backing and no power. When the crisis comes, the opponents are determined and the followers lukewarm, just as Machiavelli describes. In the end, a gesture remains that shows the new is not entirely lost.
Note: If you are having thoughts of suicide, talk to someone about it. In Germany, the TelefonSeelsorge crisis line is available around the clock, anonymously and free of charge: 0800 111 0 111 or 0800 111 0 222. In the United States, call or text 988.
