In this article, Karen Lurie acknowledges the wide array of interpretations of The Graduate (1967) ranging from a sex farce to a generation gap comedy to a “ballad of alienation and rebellion.”  These different interpretations affect the way in which viewers receive and react to the elements of the film itself.  Lurie offers a plot summary and touches briefly on a number of the themes and symbols that permeate the film.  After this hasty plot summary, Lurie delves into a more critical analysis and assessment of the film, mostly concentrating on its ending and the meanings that viewers impose upon this ending.  Lurie argues that the widely accepted view of The Graduate as having a happy ending is forced upon the film by those who are determined to make it a romantic comedy.  The way in which Benjamin and Elaine flee the suburban life that they have been restricted by further contributes to the cursory assumption that the ending implies happiness and triumph, but the final scene is actually much more profound and ambiguous.  As Benjamin and Elaine sit on the bus driving away from the church, their smiles become forced and then disappear altogether.  They do not say a word to one another as the lyrics of Paul Simon’s song “Sounds of Silences” fills the air, “Hello darkness, my old friend…”  If one were to critically assess their relationship, though they claim to be in love, Benjamin and Elaine barely know each other.  They do not have the support of their families and Benjamin does not have a job.  With Paul Simon’s “darkness” foreshadowing a dark future, the ending is not one of bliss and contentment as so many viewers mistakenly believe.