The Graduate (novel)
First edition cover
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| Author | Charles Webb |
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| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | New American Library |
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Publication date
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1963 |
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| Followed by | Home School |
The Graduate is a 1963 novella by Charles Webb, who wrote it shortly after graduating from Williams College. It tells the story of Benjamin Braddock, who, while pondering his future after his graduation, has an affair with the older Mrs. Robinson, the wife of his father's business partner.
It was adapted into the highly successful 1967 movie The Graduate, directed by Mike Nichols and with Dustin Hoffman in the title role. Webb has stated he never felt comfortable with the attention the movie brought him because he felt it distracted from his status as a serious artist. He did not receive any royalties from the film and has stated he is glad it happened that way.
On the episode of the AMC television show Movies That Shook the World devoted to the film adaptation, Webb revealed the identity of the real-life inspiration for Mrs. Robinson: Jane Erickson (exact spelling unknown), the wife of an associate of Webb's father. However, that was the extent of any similarity with the novel; Webb denied having a relationship with her.
A sequel titled Home School, which takes place ten years after the ending of the first novel, was published by Hutchinson in June 2007.
The book's creation serves as the centerpiece of the 2005 film Rumor Has It....
In California, June 1962, Benjamin Braddock, about to be 21 years old, has recently graduated from a small Eastern college. He has won a scholarship to continue his education as an award of the Frank Helpingham and has returned home to Pasadena. By eight o’clock, most of the guests arrived because a party was celebrating his graduation at his parents' house. Everyone is thrilled about his numerous academic and athletic achievements. With having some small identity crisis, Benjamin, visibly uncomfortable as his parents deliver accolades and neighborhood friends ask him about his future plans, evades those who try to congratulate him.
At the insistence of the neglected wife of his father’s law partner, he drives Mrs. Robinson home, because her husband took the car, and she doesn’t know how to drive as far as she is concerned. Once at the house, he is coerced inside and has a drink in the Sun Porch. They talk for a time and Mrs. Robinson attempts to seduce him, which she denies. She invites him up to Elaine's room to see her portrait, and then after she tells Benjamin to bring her purse up, she comes back into the room naked. Her initial attempt at an affair is rebuffed and Benjamin quickly goes downstairs as he hears Mr. Robinson arriving home. Benjamin tells him that he only brought Mrs. Robinson home. Mr. Robinson doesn't suspect anything, and begins counseling Benjamin for a moment—even suggesting that Benjamin should give his daughter a call the next Saturday when she returns from Berkeley.
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