The Graduate Essay Research Paper Music is

The Graduate Essay, Research Paper Music is an important part of every film. Even before there were ?talking pictures? the filmmakers used music as background noise to help tell the story. With or without words music can be so powerful that it increases the intensity of the film immensely. Can you imagine Fantasia without all of its classical scores? There are many theories about music in film today. While some believe it adds a lot to film others think that music should never be secondary to images. I believe that the two go hand in hand equally to bring the best of the audio and visual worlds together. Especially now that lyrics have come into play. The words of a song can bring so much more emotion to a scene than dialogue can in certain cases. I have found this amazingly

true in The Graduate. Simon and Garfunkel take the concept of music in film to a new level by having the movie explained in their lyrics. To me, ?Sound of Silence? becomes the subconscious Ben Braddock. The words of the song delve into his inner self to try to describe his thought and feelings. This paper will interpret the lyrics of ?Sounds of Silence? in accordance with The Graduate. This is important because by explicating the lyrics the depth of the film becomes more dynamic. Hello darkness, my old friend I’ve come to talk with you again Because a vision softly creeping Left its seeds while I was sleeping And the vision that was planted in my brain Still remains Within the sound of silence The song begins with the outer layer of Ben?s mind and steadily moves inward as he

begins to understand himself better. In the beginning he comes home after graduating from college with an intense fear of the future because of the fact that he has no plans. To him, the future is darkness, as it always has been when he did not know what was to happen next. While at college, Ben involved himself in many activities to ignore the thoughts of the ever-looming obscurity. Although, now, the darkness is so absolute and thick it is even hard to hear. The only way he is able to see the possibilities of life is to be in his subconscious and hope that the visions are important enough to remain in his blurred mind. Sleep is his escape from the darkness of his mind. In a sense, Ben feels dead. For example, on his 21st birthday he just sits at the bottom of the pool wishing

he could be anywhere but there with all of those people. Also, at the graduation party that his parents throw for them all he wants to do is escape to his room to be alone. Not to mention that every person there is an adult, friend of Ben?s parents, not a young one in the whole bunch. To him the sound of silence is the end, it means that his life is nothing. He feels as though he has no effect on others or life and they have no influence on him either. This is because he has not begun to found love and passionate feeling. Even during his affair with Mrs. Robinson, life is just the same old every day, all bland as ever. In restless dreams I walked alone Narrow streets of cobblestone Beneath the halo of a street lamp I turned my collar to the cold and damp When my eyes were stabbed

by the flash of a neon light That split the night And touched the sound of silence In the second verse things start to get a little more complicated. I think that the best visual description is the scene where Ben is floating in the pool. His father asks him what he is doing and Ben responds with, ?just drifting.? Drifting is exactly what he is doing, but not just in the pool, but through life as well. Weeks after graduation he is still doing absolutely nothing, not even thinking, just letting the darkness take over. When Ben and Mrs. Robinson have their first argument he tells her that he cares about her, and maybe he thinks he does, but he has no idea what feelings of caring really are till he falls for Elaine. Throughout his life he walks alone, not even noticing the others