Nicole P: In The Graduate, the song "The Sound of Silence" plays whenever Ben doesn't know what he wants to do in the future or when something bad is going on in his life and he questions himself and his morals. In the beginning of the film at his graduate party the song starts to play. Like Charlotte mentioned, the music shows how he is feeling in that moment. Everyone is asking what he is going to do after college and he doesn't know. This song plays many more times in the film when Ben is uncomfortable or questioning himself. The first two lines of the song are, "Hello darkness, my old friend I've come to talk with you again." The word "again" shows that this is an ongoing struggle within Ben between what he thinks is right and what he is doing. Again, like Charlotte said, Ben is lying in Ben thinking about what he has done and realizes it is wrong. It is almost as if the music is an inner dialogue between Ben.
Megan Ruckel: Like Nicole said, “The Sound of Silence” plays a huge role in understanding and portraying Ben as a character. As we know from the film, Ben is overwhelmed and indecisive about his plans after college. People bombard him with questions about the future, whether for a job, going to grad school, or even finding a girlfriend/wife; he gets stressed out and uncomfortable creating that plan for himself, and he falls back into the state of despair in a way. When this happens in the film, “The Sound of Silence” plays, always from the introduction, which is, “Hello Darkness, my old friend I've come to talk to with you again.” If you think deeper about this lyric, you can connect it to Ben. Every time he falls back into this despair, he is linking back to this “Darkness.” He is “coming to talk with it again,” like he's going back to falling into this despair, and he is contacting the “Darkness” that has been with him all his life (my old friend). You can see this despair when he lays in the pool. He keeps going back to it, like an old friend. He has no clue what he's doing in the future, so he goes back to the pool and just lies there until something else happens that makes him go out again.
In the movie The Graduate, we can see how the director uses the song "The Sound of Silence" to express Benjamin's biggest flaw, being inpulsive. After Benjamin gets what he wants, he begins to question what will happen or what will be the consequences of his actions, and we can appreciate this through the song that plays after each moment (example: Benjamin sleep with Mrs. Robinson then starts to think about what he did with the background music // Benjamin runs away with Mrs. Robinson's daughter but when they are on the bus he starts to wonder what they are going to do
I agree with everyone here...the main soing "The sounds of silence" is curcial to the movie, and it is the only song in the whole movie that was written for the actul movie
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ReplyDeleteCharlotte:
ReplyDelete1. When Ben walked on the travelator I noticed they played "The Sound of Silence." I think the music goes with how he is feeling.
2. The Taft Hotel music sounds calming and relaxing. I think they play music at hotels because it's welcoming for the guest who comes in.
3. When Ben and Mrs. Robison are at the hotel having a drink the music sounds classical.
4. When Ben is lying on the pool float and in bed they play the same music from the beginning of the film.
Nicole P:
ReplyDeleteIn The Graduate, the song "The Sound of Silence" plays whenever Ben doesn't know what he wants to do in the future or when something bad is going on in his life and he questions himself and his morals. In the beginning of the film at his graduate party the song starts to play. Like Charlotte mentioned, the music shows how he is feeling in that moment. Everyone is asking what he is going to do after college and he doesn't know. This song plays many more times in the film when Ben is uncomfortable or questioning himself. The first two lines of the song are, "Hello darkness, my old friend I've come to talk with you again." The word "again" shows that this is an ongoing struggle within Ben between what he thinks is right and what he is doing. Again, like Charlotte said, Ben is lying in Ben thinking about what he has done and realizes it is wrong. It is almost as if the music is an inner dialogue between Ben.
Megan Ruckel:
ReplyDeleteLike Nicole said, “The Sound of Silence” plays a huge role in understanding and portraying Ben as a character. As we know from the film, Ben is overwhelmed and indecisive about his plans after college. People bombard him with questions about the future, whether for a job, going to grad school, or even finding a girlfriend/wife; he gets stressed out and uncomfortable creating that plan for himself, and he falls back into the state of despair in a way. When this happens in the film, “The Sound of Silence” plays, always from the introduction, which is, “Hello Darkness, my old friend I've come to talk to with you again.” If you think deeper about this lyric, you can connect it to Ben. Every time he falls back into this despair, he is linking back to this “Darkness.” He is “coming to talk with it again,” like he's going back to falling into this despair, and he is contacting the “Darkness” that has been with him all his life (my old friend). You can see this despair when he lays in the pool. He keeps going back to it, like an old friend. He has no clue what he's doing in the future, so he goes back to the pool and just lies there until something else happens that makes him go out again.
Israel Pardo:
ReplyDeleteIn the movie The Graduate, we can see how the director uses the song "The Sound of Silence" to express Benjamin's biggest flaw, being inpulsive. After Benjamin gets what he wants, he begins to question what will happen or what will be the consequences of his actions, and we can appreciate this through the song that plays after each moment (example: Benjamin sleep with Mrs. Robinson then starts to think about what he did with the background music // Benjamin runs away with Mrs. Robinson's daughter but when they are on the bus he starts to wonder what they are going to do
Erick Morales:
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone here...the main soing "The sounds of silence" is curcial to the movie, and it is the only song in the whole movie that was written for the actul movie