LiterariLeigh

People can be so nice. Offering to help out, listen to problems, make a difficult task easier. Perhaps create a celebration in your honor for an achievement, organizing a party and inviting friends and family. How nice to be thought of!

But what if you don't want a party? Don't feel successful? Need some time to yourself to think and try to make decisions about what to do next? In The Graduate by Charles Webb, that's how the book starts. Benjamin Braddock just graduated from college and has received a scholarship to continue into a teaching program for two years. But now he doesn't think that's what he wants to do. He knows he doesn't want to attend the party his parents are throwing for him. Then he falls into an affair with his father's business partner's wife - the seductive Mrs. Robinson. To further complicate matters, when Ben becomes enamored with her daughter Elaine, Mrs. Robinson is both jealous and fiercely protective.

Radical and provocative when it came out in 1963, The Graduate delves into disillusionment, sexual revolution, discordance, and non-traditional relationships.