Loneliness, Isolation and Entrapment are central themes in ''The Graduate''. Discuss with reference to at least two scenes.

Salvador Stamatti The Graduate

Media Studies 31/09/04

Loneliness, Isolation and Entrapment are central themes in ‘’The Graduate’’. Discuss with reference to at least two scenes.

The themes of loneliness, isolation and entrapment are central to the narrative of the 1967 film The Graduate. Throughout the film, many devices are used in order to communicate this to the audience. This list of devices includes the use of water and glass for example, which is seen in many scenes and emphasizes the isolation and entrapment of the not particularly remarkable but worthy kid who drowns amongst many objects and things throughout this film.

The first scene we are going to look at is the party at the beginning of the film; I find this a perfect example to look at Ben’s reactions and his need or desire to be alone all the time, he doesn’t like to be around that many people for too much time, or in fact no time at all. There’s a part at the beginning of this scene when we see Ben sitting alone with the lights off, but we don’t realize they’re off until his father comes in and switches them on, interrupting the silence and making Ben uncomfortable since he obviously wants to be alone. Then there are a few shots where we can get a glimpse of the fish tank, but more importantly, we see the scooba diver inside it. When you come to think of it, the scooba diver is always there, in the middle of the depth of the water inside the fishtank, having water and glass putting him into total isolation, trapped but always exhibited, looked at, he is subject to people’s examination. This whole thing may signify Ben’s both loneliness and entrapment apart from isolation that we already mentioned. Close-ups on Ben’s face and his gestures suggest drastically that he wants to be left alone, but his parents insist and insist on him to join the party, where everybody anxiously await him. When he finally goes down, the camera movement and the fast cutting makes us think of how he is really feeling at the moment, he is really uncomfortable and annoyed by the presence of so many people in the same space, almost claustrophobic. There’s a certain ‘’stage fear’’, his parents want him to perform ‘’the perfect kid’’ stand up act but he reflects the irony of the whole situation. When he tries to go up the stairs once again (he tries a few times to get away from such a crowded place) we see a woman’s hand just grab his shoulder, almost imperatively just catching him saying ‘’where are you going?’’. All the time he is grabbed by someone or speaks to someone there they all treat him as if he was a child, (caressing him, the way they talk to him) when in fact he is in his twenties. When he finally gets away from all the people, he goes up to his room and as soon as he shuts the door immediately all the party noise completely disappears. As Ben shuts the door and leans against it with his back, we can observe his body language as saying that he’s relieved, almost saying ‘’I finally got away from all those people!!!’’. He then walks towards the window and looks out of it, we see three people walking by the pool area, talking and drinking, but more importantly we should take note of what the actual shot is showing us: glass (the windows are shut) and water (the pool). This combination is repeatedly used throughout the whole film, which strongly represents his isolation from everyone else.

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Another constant thing we see coming up is Ben’s space being invaded, his privacy being interrupted. We see this once again when Mrs. Robinson comes into his room. She is a very manipulative character, and we start to see this from the first time we see her appear. She just comes into the room without caring what he has to say; ‘’I want to be alone!’’ he says, and insists a lot on that, but she doesn’t pay any attention, her reply simply being ‘’Do you have an ashtray?’’. She knows what she went there for, and she is going to get it; she is very determined. Ben’s reaction to this whole act of Mrs. Robinson manipulating him and getting him to drive her home, and all the incidents at her house when they get home, can be interpreted as child-like. Ben doesn’t know how to react, he has no idea whatsoever, he stutters a lot and is very nervous, he doesn’t know what to do and hesitates all the time.

The other scene I wanted to take into consideration is the one on his birthday. Again we see everybody treating him as if he was a little child, specially his parents, who make him wear a scooba diving suit! He is clearly embarrassed and doesn’t like being in that position at all. An interesting part of this scene is the whole part we get from a ‘point of view’ camera shot from him inside the suit. We are actually Ben for a few seconds, we know what he feels. Again, it’s him behind glass and going towards water, we see all the people talking and making signals, etc, but all we hear is his breathing. When he gets to the pool he does something like getting in five seconds and getting out, like ‘’OK I did what you wanted me to do now leave me alone!’’, but his parents want more and when he tries to get out they force him into the water again. The next shot we get is Ben underwater with the suit. This reminds us of the scooba diver in the fish tank; underwater, alone, depressing, isolated, trapped.

Something that is worth considering is the following observation concerning the whole water + glass connotations, it could explain the subconscious effect on an audience. Think of a water bottle (glass or plastic, whichever signifies a barrier) and the water inside it. A bottle is usually sealed with a lid and the water only gets out when it is needed and/or wanted to get out by other people who use it; this is reminiscent of Ben always being expected to act a certain way by other people, of him living up to others’ expectations, or even of when he is used by Mrs. Robinson. The only other time the water gets out of the bottle, is by itself. How? A bottle may spill; a bottle may break because of pressure leading to the fact that the water gets out. A possible interpretation of this is when Ben at the end comes out by himself, all the pressure put on him and all the things happening made him react. He is no longer a puppet whose’ strings are being pulled, he becomes determined and is sure of what he wants, and he goes and gets it. I am talking about the whole ending scenes of him going after Elaine, specially the church scene. In this scene we see Ben banging against an enormous glass which separates the bottom part of the church from the upper floor, where the choir usually is. How often is this seen in a church? Practically never. It’s also very ironic how Ben uses the Christian cross to keep the distance between him and Elaine and the rest of the people, and also how he uses it to lock them inside the church to buy them time to run away. Now it’s all the people who are locked behind glass, which doesn’t change much since Ben (and also Elaine now) is still as isolated as before.

All throughout the film we see constant use of conventional codes which reflect many different things which most times have a subconscious effect on the audience. All these devices added up together have a very strong effect, clearly emphasizing all throughout the piece loneliness, isolation and entrapment.

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