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Vanessa Vasquez
Ms. Blakely
English II
18 October 2013
The Truth Behind Teachers
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, to teach means “to give lessons
about a particular subject to a person or group.” The Chocolate War, written by Robert
Cormier, is a book about Jerry Renault who rebels against a school tradition of selling
chocolates. Dead Poet Society is a movie about how an English teacher’s words inspired
students to rebel against the school. One of the main characters of Dead Poet Society is
English teacher John Keating who is a symbol of inspiration in the movie. One of the
main characters of The Chocolate Wars is Brother Leon, a teacher who is feared by his
students. These two different styles of teaching have a lasting impact on their students
and their school causing each society to standup and change.
Brother Leon and Mr. Keating have different styles of teaching. Leon teaches his
students through fear. The book describes “The brother’s glance went slowly around the
room. Jerry felt a sense of dread and anticipation” (Cormier 39). This description of the
mood of the classroom gives the reader an idea of how afraid Leon’s students are of the
teacher. Unlike brother Lean, Keating teaches his students through inspiration. Keating
shows his student pictures of graduated students and explains, “One day, hard as it is to
believe, each and every one of us is going to stop breathing turn cold, and die! Stand up
and pursue the faces of the boys who attend this school 60 or 70 years ago. Don’t be
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timid, go look at them” (Weir). These words of wisdom inspire his students into creating
their own voice. These two different forms of teaching impact the student themselves.
Brother Leon and Mr. Keating both have different impacts on their students. Due
to Leon’s teachings, he makes teachers seem corrupt. Caroni explains in the book “He’d
always worshipped his teachers, had thought of becoming a teacher himself someday. But
now-this” (Cormier 107). Caroni saw the corruption in Brother Leon and his view of
teachers changed. Keating, on the other hand, seemed incorruptible. Keating’s teaching
inspires his students to see him as a role model and an inspiration. In class, Keating tells
his students “Let your poetry conjure up salvation day, doomsday, any day. I don’t care
as long as it enlightens us” (Weir). These words later impact decisions that Neil Perry
makes through the movie. Both teachers made massive contributions to the story’s
change.
Brother Leon stopped change from happening in the book while Mr. Keating does
the opposite. Leon’s negative power over the school over powered Renault’s attempts to
rebel against him. By the end of the story, even though things seemed in chaos with the
fight, in reality, Brother Leon had complete control of the school again: “You really
didn’t use your best judgment tonight, Archie. But I realize you did it for the school. For
Trinity” (Comier 250). Brother Leon praises Archie because Jerry Renault, the cause of
rebellion in the school, failed thanks to the Vigils. Leon negatively influenced the school
as a whole, while Keating really focused on deeply impacting one class of students.
Keating influenced a more positive change in his students, even though he did not have
enough power to undermined Nolan. He encourages rebellion in his students till the very
end. In the movie, the last rebellion honored Mr. Keating “One by one and then in
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groups, many others in the class follow suit, standing on their desks in silent salute to Mr.
Keating” (Weir). Mr. Keating influenced his students and brought rebellion to the
school. If Brother Leon and Mr. Keating never existed in their stories, it would have
changed the climax of the stories themselves.
The difference between Brother Leon and Mr. Keating is their styles of teaching,
lasting impacts, and change they bring to the story. Brother Leon and Mr. Keating are
opposite to each other in every aspect. Brother Leon played the role of the negative
influence of The Chocolate Wars while Mr. Keating played the role of the positive
influence of the Dead Poet Society. The two teachers may teach high school boys, but
their impacts on the story, ways of teaching, and the change they brought to the story are
different. The moral of the story is that all teachers come in different shapes and sizes and
teachers should be careful about the lasting impact they have on their students.
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Work Cited Page
Comier, Robert. The Chocolate Wars. New York: Random House, 1974. Print
Dead Poet Society. Dir. Peter Weir. Perf. Robin Williams, Robert Sean Leonard, Ethan
Hawke, Josh Hansen. 1989. Film
"Dead Poets Society." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2013.
"Welcome to the Purdue OWL." Purdue OWL: MLA Formatting and Style Guide. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2013.