He Garfunkeled Your Mother: a Psychoanalytic Reading of the Graduate

He Garfunkeled Your Mother A psychoanalytical Reading of The Graduate The 1967 put d possess, The Graduate, staring Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft contains a plethora of human idiosyncrasies that would be of the level best interest to the psychoanalytic minds of some(prenominal) Freud and La ordure. For this reading, I will focus on the theories of both Freud and La substructure in accordance with textual proof to prove that Benjamin Braddock never achieves enjoyment in the end of the hire, hardly has altogether just protracted his quest to flake a miserable human existence.The around plain and diaphanous reading of this movie theater focuses around the char chiper of Mrs. Robinson. An obvious Oedipal multi positionorial emerges as Ben and Mrs. Robinson begin an familiarity. As an senior woman, who Ben never calls by her first name, Mrs. Robinson becomes a replacement mother for Ben. Bens jealousy for his fuss emerges as Ben begins to on a lower floorstand his s ustain is non worried about(predicate) his strike in future, though Ben himself is extremely unsure about what the future holds for his brio. In fact, Bens let has built a distinctly pep pill class and well kept kinfolk for Ben and his mother.Ben subconsciously senses that his beget holds all the forefinger within the family dynamic as the doctor breadwinner for the household. beneathstanding this unstated father-son rivalry, it is predictable by dint of a Freudian interpretation that Ben would eventually bemuse agitate with Mrs. Robinson, the wife of his fathers business partner. By doing, Ben laughingstock displace his Oedipal inclinations of wooing his mother to ward off from his fathers power and wealth without actually committing incest, and therefore displace his father from a position of power.The focus on mother imagery does not snap off there. Ben is often depicted in weewee in the form of his liquified sh atomic number 18, or staring into the water o f his fish tank. Tyson tells us that the imagery of dreams that involve water, especially dousing in water, might also be about our relationships with our mothers (Tyson 21). This explains why filmmakers chose to emerge Ben, in his phallic looking scuba suit, into his swimming pool. This symbolizes Bens emersion into the depths of his Oedipal Complex.At virtuoso spotlight his parents push his head back under the water, thus illustrating that they are the ones who subconsciously push Ben into a state of dependence upon them. though this backfires as he displaces the need for a mother or parental contrive into his relationship with Mrs. Robinson. In this same movie one could conclude that this setting emphasizes Bens submersion into a conflict of the id, ego, and superego. Under the water, where there is no language or sound, like the Laconian Imaginary, Ben has to battle with his id, the pleasures he receives from sex with Mrs.Robinson, and his ego, deciding upon the rationality of his decisions. Once he emerges from the water and enters into the Symbolic, he is then over again subject to the superego where he must root if what he is doing with Mrs. Robinson is right or falsely (Tyson 25). Ultimately, Ben continually chooses to avoid the situation and opponent entirely and emerge himself and his thoughts in his pool or fish tank in order to repress any unless emotional agitation (Tyson 15). The Freudian model of fetishes is also highlighted throughout the film to religious service as a constant proctor and protection to Ben.In the infamous word picture in the midst of Ben and Mrs. Robinson in the Robinsons living room, Mrs. Robinson has hands down placed her legs up on the keep out stool next to her. Her legs are propagate just enough to seem inviting but not enough to fail the fact that she has been castrated to Ben. There is even a series of dialogue that occurs as Mrs. Robinson sexily removes her stockings. What is roughly all heavy(pre dicate) about this scene, though, is that the run along Mrs. Robinson, are you trying to seduce me? is delivered by Ben as the camera focuses on him through a frame made by Mrs.Robinsons leg, arched and positioned on a stool. By choosing to frame the most famous line from the movie this way filmmakers can retard that Ben is still seen by viewers as innocent, protected from shame, and therefore likable, as he has not been subjected to the fact that Mrs. Robinson does not withdraw a penis. Freud also suggests that the fetish is important because it also saves the fetishist from becoming a homosexual, by endowing women with the characteristic which makes them tolerable sexual objects (Freud 843).Benjamin can retain his absolute heterosexuality in the eyes of the viewer even though he is explicitly stating he does not want to have sex with this woman. His guardianship and focus on her legs informs the reader that he is still interested in her as a sexual being. Soon, though, this v iew of Ben as innocent is then shattered, as Mrs. Robinson appears to Ben in the next scene as solely nude. later seeing the naked female person ashes, Benjamin is fully aware that Mrs. Robinson has been castrated. He interjects, Oh God, Let me out, and Jesus Christ, in idolize of what his has seen.The playful focus on Mrs. Robinsons legs is gone and what remains serves as the glaring realization that Ben could be castrated by losing favor or power in his community if anyone found out that he had seen Mrs. Robinson naked. Benjamin eventually uses the premise of emasculation and extremity as power in an attempt manipulate Mrs. Robinson after their affair has been going on for some time. After deciding he has had enough vacuous sex, Ben asks Mrs. Robinson about her family including her girlfriend Elaine. Mrs.Robinson insinuates that Ben is not acceptable enough for her daughter and then refuses to respond why he is not deemed commodity enough for Elaine. Ben then rips the s heet off from Mrs. Robinsons naked body to reveal that he is still the just now one in the room with a genus fellow member and therefore should hold the power, as a way to force her to answer his question. Quickly, Mrs. Robinson covers her body to reclaim power within the situation. The scene escalates to Mrs. Robinson putting on her stockings again, playing Bens focus to her legs once more. Ben easily succumbs to her wiles grown back the power of an imaginary fellow member to the older woman.This scene exemplifies Freuds conjecture of castration anxiety, as the power in the room is switched back and forth amongst the person, male or female, who seems to be in possession of the phallus. Another possible, though more complicated, reading of the film emerges in a Lacanian analysis. Unlike Freud, who would argue that having a phallus is of the utmost importance, Lacan complicates the idea of power by questioning if its more important to have the Phallus or to be the Phallus. M rs. Robinson perfectly highlights how important it is for women to be the Phallus. Mrs.Robinson wants to be desired by Ben, which is why she becomes so angry at the fact Ben takes her daughter on a date. Mrs. Robinson sees her own daughters youth and beauty as a threat to Bens tenderness and affection. This younger woman is a roadblock to Mrs. Robinson being the desire of the other as Ben now wants someone young and whiz who poses an option of marriage that Mrs. Robinson does and can not (Palmer 1). In contrast, Ben does not desire to be the Phallus. Instead, hes chasing pavements, in a sense, as his true desire, or eventual(prenominal) Phallus, is being able to predict his own future.Though at one time he desired to be with Mrs. Robinson, his sense of desire changes as he realizes Mrs. Robinson cannot give him what he wants the way that Elaine can. Only Elaine, with her youth and big businessman to marry can be the only one who truly cannot give him what he wants, insight into his future which includes the possibility of a wife and children. Under this Lacanian analysis, it is almost unachievable to distinguish whether it is more important to have the Phallus or to be the Phallus as both characters are go away as equally unhappy. Mrs.Robinson is go forth skin senses undesired as Benjamin literally fights tooth and nail to be with Elaine, and Benjamin is left still unknowing what the future holds for him. The film ends with Ben and Elaine running away from Elaines marriage to hop on a bus, take one last glance at what they left behind, and sit facing their future, commencement blankly. A conventional reading of this film might conclude that the film has a happy ending since Benjamin at long last ended up with the girl he had been chasing throughout the movie and therefore should be happy with achieving his goal. Freud and Lacan would both vehemently disaccord with this reading.Freud would infer that since Ben continued to repress his feelings and a ct out his Oedipal Complex he has an obvious perversion that could only be single-minded or aided with deep and prolonged psychotherapy. Likewise, Lacan would conclude that Benjamins ceaseless pursuit of the Phallus is ultimately futile. Since Ben can never fully predict or understand his future, even when a life with Elaine is imminent, he will never be fulfilled or validated, as he will still have desires he can never realize. Only now, he has the added obligation of carrying Elaine along with him on his invariant hunt for fulfillment.Works Cited The Graduate. Dir. Mike Nichols. Perf. Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft. Embassy Pictures, 1967. DVD. Leitch, Vincent B. Fetishism. The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. upstart York W. W. Norton &, 2010. 841-45. Print. Palmer, Donald D. The Real, the Imaginary, and the Symbolic. Structuralism and Poststructuralism for Beginners. New York, NY Writers and Readers, 1997. N. pag. Print. Tyson, Lois. Psychoanalytic Criticism. sarcastic Theory Today A user-friendly Guide. New York Routledge, 2006. 11-52. Print.