Who said oh captain my captain

Nolan silences Todd and demands that Keating leave. Knox stands as well and repeats the phrase. Pitts follows with the same gesture, as does Meeks, followed by many other boys. Cameron noticeably remains seated. Nolan screams for them all to sit down, but they ignore him. The boys stare at Mr. Keating, who thanks them earnestly and leaves the room. One could argue that, in this way, his father did figuratively kill him.

Meanwhile, Keating sobs openly, deeply distraught at the loss of his student. Displaying the warm and carefree Keating in this heartbroken light casts an immovable shadow over the entire rest of the movie. Of course, having already had difficult with Keating, it's perhaps unsurprising that they would use him as a scapegoat for what happened.

While Keating managed to inspire and encourage many of the Dead Poets Society members into believing in his ideas about independence and non-conformity, Cameron represents the other side of the equation: those who still believe that Welton is in the right and that Mr. He is concrete proof that Keating's impact was not so easily made on everyone. The administration's decision to pressure the implicated members of the Dead Poets Society into signing a paper blaming Mr.

Keating's influence for Neil's death is an unfortunate parallel to the hold that Neil's parents had over him: straight to the end, much of the movie's misfortune comes from forcing the hand of adolescent boys who either aren't mature enough to make these difficult decisions themselves or who are not of legal age to act independently without threat of serious backlash from their parents and superiors.

This is exemplified particularly when Todd tries to ask questions and put off signing the paper until his father interjects and forces him to sign it.

The film's themes of discipline and tradition are driven home, with the administration's old-school ideologies appearing to win out, at least for the moment.

My Captain! That they are defiant enough to carry out this gesture in plain viewing of Mr. Nolan, and despite his protests, speaks immediately to the rebellious influence Keating had on them. In a direct parallel, the boys mourn the loss of a great teacher taken from them under circumstances that they consider unjust, in a moving gesture that has become cinematically iconic over the years. The Question and Answer section for Dead Poets Society is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

In contrast to the school, how does Mr. Keating enter the English classroom on the first day? The "Critical Overview" section is particularly comprehensive, including excerpts from the work of several prominent critics. A Noiseless Patient Spider.

Crossing Brooklyn Ferry. I Hear America Singing. I Sing the Body Electric. O Life! The Voice of the Rain. LitCharts Teacher Editions. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts.

The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of every Shakespeare play. Sign Up. Lamenting the fall of your hero should never be pretentious. Neither should quoting Dead Poets Society. Quotes Shmoop will make you a better lover Author: Walt Whitman "O Captain! Back to all quotes. See All Quotes. Logging out…. Logging out