Tools of Characterization
Characterization in The Graduate
Names
Just a few words about names. First, the names of Ben's family and friends are pretty white-bread names like Braddock, Robinson, Carlson, Loomis, and Smith. No Goldbergs, DiPietros, Hernandezes, or Karpinskis in this crowd. 'Nuff said.
Second, Benjamin refers to all the adults in his life by their last names. Maybe he's just brought up to be formally polite, but he also calls Mrs. Robinson "Mrs. Robinson" even while they're getting naked together on a regular basis. We never learn her first name. The only people referred to on a first-name basis are the younger generation—Benjamin, Carl, and Elaine. Whether the film's using this as a "generation gap" issue can be debated, but it shows how distant Ben feels from the people he's associating with while he's home.
Actions
Because we don't get much of the inner life of any character except Benjamin, it falls to the characters' actions to define them. Of all the actions in the movie, one is definitely more telling than others, since it sets everything else in motion: seduction. Mrs. Robinson is the seducer and Benjamin is the seduced, first unwilling and then nervously willing.
From this, we can learn a bunch of things: first, that Mrs. Robinson is unsatisfied with her marriage. She doesn't hate her husband, but she's not in love—something's missing in her life. We learn pretty much the same thing about Benjamin too, in that he's also got a hole in his life. Of course, the affair doesn't end up solving this problem at all.
We also learn things about Benjamin's parents from their actions: we can see how casually they spend money, buying Benjamin a scuba suit and expensive sports car. They throw a big birthday party for him; it shows us they're proud of their smart, accomplished graduate. But everything they do makes Ben extremely uncomfortable. We can see that they're clueless about what's going on with him. They're over-involved and overprotective. They're well-meaning but clearly have not been paying attention to what's on Ben's mind.
Clothing
Benjamin, his family, and the family friends mostly dress conservatively in a preppy mid-'60s style, with the exception of Mrs. Braddock's op-art black and white patterned top that shows that she's pretty stylish and a little daring. Despite being uncomfortable with his wealth and privilege, he's a pretty straight arrow. As for Mrs. Robinson, the director, Nichols, intentionally wanted Bancroft to wear clothing with jungle-cat pattern prints, indicating that she's playfully stalking her prey. She's the original cougar.
Family Life
Ben's family life is extremely comfortable. His parents are sane, caring, and proud of him if a bit overbearing and clueless about the reasons for his emotional paralysis. They assume he has the same goals they have—to be a financially stable family man. They're overjoyed when he tells them he's marrying Elaine, until they realize he hasn't mentioned that to Elaine.
Ben tells them he wants his future to be "different," but they can't really offer any alternatives for him, and they can't really talk to him about it in a way that can be helpful; they're too stuck in their own views about what a good life should be like. Even though Ben's rejecting aspects of their lifestyle, he stays within it. Ben's clean-cut and conservative in his own way, a decent guy, and he sure doesn't turn down the Alfa Romeo. His act of rebellion isn't to take drugs, dress like a "freak," or attend anti-war protest. It's to jump into bed with his parents' best friend.
Mrs. Robinson seems to have more trouble in her family life. She has a marriage that's borderline sexless, and got married primarily because she got pregnant. She says that she doesn't love her husband—or, at least, "not exactly":
BENJAMIN: Wait a minute. So you wouldn't say you loved him.
MRS. ROBINSON: Not exactly.
Mrs. Robinson's unhappiness makes her vulnerable to self-destructive acts like drinking too much and and carrying on affairs. She's trying to anesthetize herself.
Location
The Graduate is definitely a Southern California story; Benjamin's family is in upper- class suburban L.A. This sun-drenched location conditions Benjamin's character and his family's to some degree—whereas New Englanders traditionally tend to be more reserved, and Minnesotans are "Minnesota nice" even at 30 below, affluent Southern Californians are living the sweet life, an endless revel in the sun (we're speaking in terms of broad stereotypes, the movie's version of SoCal). But Ben can't really enjoy this—he senses a certain hollowness in his life that makes him unable to fully enjoy this pleasurable lifestyle. Doesn't stop him from spending an inordinate amount of time in the pool, though.
Occupation
One of the defining features of Benjamin Braddock is that he doesn't have an occupation—he's just a graduate. He's in a transition phase. Instead of seizing his future, he decides to drift in the family pool and have an affair, avoiding thoughts about his purpose in life. No one seems able to give him much direction. As he floats in the pool, he and his Dad have this brief back-and-forth:
MR. BRADDOCK: Would you mind telling me then—what were those four years of college for? What was the point of all that hard work?
BENJAMIN: You got me.
Mr. Robinson and Mr. Braddock' occupations—attorneys in a law firm—seem to define them as traditional and conformist. Not that that's necessarily true—for all we know they could be civil rights attorneys or labor lawyers. But that's not what we're meant to think; they're suits.
Social Status
Benjamin moves entirely in a world of wealth, and this helps to define his character. Someone who didn't go to college in the East wouldn't be facing the same kind of dilemmas as Benjamin because they wouldn't have the luxury of career options. He's annoyed with the suggestion that there's a lot of money in the boring, old plastics industry, whereas someone from a poorer background wouldn't be laughing at that same kind of lucrative opportunity. He's got all his father's professional friends who would be a big help if he ever got his act together and looked for a job or applied to graduate school.
The term "first world problems" comes to mind here.
The same thing is true for Mrs. Robinson. She doesn't have to work, so she's got plenty of time on her hands for an affair. She can afford glamorous clothes and a big house. But both Benjamin and Mrs. R. come across as victims of their social class, trapped in a social milieu they'd rather leave behind.
Speech and Dialogue
This isn't a dialogue-heavy film. The most revealing dialogue is between Benjamin and Mrs. Robinson, most of which takes place during the course of the seduction and affair. At first, Mrs. Robinson plays innocent while actually being fully aware of what she's doing. Benjamin's totally awkward and nervous; he just wants to get out of there. The dialogue makes all this amusingly clear: the clever, somewhat devious mentality of Mrs. Robinson, and the awkward persona of Ben:
MRS. ROBINSON: What are you so scared of?
BENJAMIN: I'm not scared, Mrs. Robinson.
MRS. ROBINSON: Then why do you keep running away?
BENJAMIN: Because you're going to bed. I don't think I should be up here.
After their affair begins, and Ben tries to engage her in some conversation instead of just having sex, their dialogue shows us just how wide the gap between them is. He's revealed to be naïve and boyish; she seems even more jaded and world-weary. For example, it takes Ben a while to understand why Mrs. Robinson would marry her husband even if she doesn't love him. She has to practically hit him over the head with it. Then he wants to hear the details of Elaine's conception. When he learns what happened, he can't get over that "old Elaine Robinson got started in a Ford!" At this point, Mrs. Robinson decides to stop trying to talk to him.
The little dialogue we hear from adults other than Mrs. Robinson doesn't offer much in terms of their characters. But we're meant to assume from the little we hear that they're superficial ("plastics"), pushy ("have you thought about grad school?"), or mistrustful ("I'd rather you didn't say anything at all than be dishonest").
Thoughts and Opinions
Even with our protagonist there's not a lot of explicit expression of his thoughts. He's sullen and quiet, and we're supposed to infer that he's struggling with some deep existential issues. He discloses a little to his father—he wants his future to be different—but really can't articulate much more than that. The closest he comes to opening up is with Elaine, after his disastrous date with her.
There seem to be assumptions on the part of Ben and Elaine that because their parents want them to go on dates or apply to graduate school or think about their futures, that their opinions are shallow and empty. By leaving their parents out of any important roles in the film, does that mean Nichols agrees that they parents are not only annoying, but irrelevant?