Charlie

At the beginning of Dead Poets Society, Charlie is shown as a person who has no control over the projection of his negative opinions towards others. He also is not shy to speak publicly, as he does before his class and society. His character is of someone with normal self esteem but low value of relationships with others. Characters who value positive relationships highly, such as Todd, tend to have low self esteem and depend on others’ approval of them. Therefore they expose less negative views of others as publicly as Charlie tends to. Charley insults Todd to their mutual friend Neil in the beginning, “Heard you got the new boy. Hear he’s a stiff.”(Kleinbaum, 13). In the early climax of the novel, when tense situations are uprising with Knox and too with Neil, Charlie gives himself a nickname, “It’s Nuwanda, Cameron.”(Kleinbaum, 95). The mentality of someone who developed a new name for their self is seen when one is displeased with themselves. Further evidence of Charlie’s becoming displeased with himself over the course of the story appears when he advocates for girls to be accepted into Welton Academy. He does something that is capable of getting him expelled and admits to having done so publicly. This shows he that has less care for whether he attends the school he is accustomed to which implies he cares less of his own comfortability. Charlie’s traits of not caring about his positive relationships, having self esteem, and later becoming displeased with his self are all characteristics that describe his trait in Dead Poets Society.

In conclusion, Charlie was a flat character. Then he changed into a round charter. We know this because, in the beginning of the novel Charlie was not a big part, although towards the end he grew a much bigger personality. For example, when he brought girls into the cave and told the other members of the club to call him Nuwanda. This shows that he started to get happier, and changed from being someone small into someone much bigger.

Supporting Quotes:
-“Heard you got the new boy. Hear he’s a stiff.”(Kleinbaum, 13)
-“It’s Nuwanda, Cameron.”(Kleinbaum, 95)
-“…I’ve published an article in the school paper, in the name of the Dead Poets Society, demanding girls be admitted to Welton…”(Kleinbaum, 95)
-“‘It’s God. He said we should have girls at Welton.'”(Kleinbaum, 105)