The Graduate Character Analysis Essay

Nichols and May’s skills as storytellers lie in their understanding of human relationships, a mastery that is expressed in the sketch through their delivery of character. The improvisational nature of Nichols and May’s dynamic is apparent in the conversational tone of this sketch. Nichols and May play off each other well and develop the relationship between the mother and son in a short amount of time. The dysfunction of this relationship drives the scene by creating conflict, which the characters exploit to the fullest extent. For instance, the mother in the sketch begins the call normally and proceeds to guilt trip her son with hyperbolized ¬¬reactions. May’s delivery emphasizes the nagging, worrisome traits of the character. The exaggeration of her character’s dysfunction is the focus of humor in the skit. However, once the sketch breaks down to reveal the emotional truth of the characters, the growing distance in the relationship between mother and son, a sense of gravitas hits the audience and asks us to consider our the
Robinson and especially at the inciting incident. The contrast between Ben’s shock and Mrs. Robinson’s nonchalant demeanor is both humorous for the audience and significant for the film’s progression. The dysfunction of the relationship between the two characters—the former a dubious graduate whose uncertainty about the future leaves him with no sense of direction, and the latter a reserved seductress whose longing for fulfillment like she had in the past leads her to develop a highly unorthodox, sacrilegious relationship, particularly so in the period of the film—is the main conflict of the film. While this creates comedy as expected, the emotional truth of Mrs. Robinson appears during the bedroom scene, wherein she reveals that she has “lost interest” in art, just as her husband has lost interest in