The Man In The Seventh Row Read Free

Robinson.
    The man in the seventh row rises unsteadily to his feet and makes his way along the row, banging into the legs of a man at the other end.
    'Sorry, sorry, excuse me.'
    He stumbles up the aisle and into the brightness of the hall. He finds the men's room, fills a basin with cold water, cups his hands and splashes it all over his face. Alarm shows in his blue eyes as he looks at himself in the mirror over the basin. The fringe of his blond hair has fallen forward and is plastered to his wet brow. A drop of water falls from his nose.
    The man from the seventh row stares into the mirror at the features of the man who is playing Ben Braddock in the film down the hall.
    There is no twinkle in his eyes, the whites of which are bloodshot with fatigue and worry. There is no mischievous grin, none of the confidence and arrogance of the revisionist interpretation of Ben Braddock. He seems no more than a washed-out remnant of the man on the screen, but there is no doubt that he is, or was, the man in the movie. He presses his hands to his face and lets out a sound that is part sigh and part sob.
    He returns to the cinema hoping Dustin Hoffman too has returned. But it is his own image that stares down at him as he makes his way along the seventh row once more.
    Ben is explaining to Mrs Robinson's daughter Elaine that ever since he graduated he feels this compulsion to be rude. She says she knows how he feels. They go to the Taft Hotel for a drink. The desk clerk greets Ben as Mr Gladstone and asks if he is there for an affair, a question that had originally thrown Hoffman and had resulted in him ending up by mistake in a private function.
    But the inquiry does not disconcert the new Ben.
    'Good idea,' he says, 'I'll just check that the young lady's up for it.'
    'Any luggage or just the toothbrush, Mr Gladstone?' asks the clerk.
    'Just the toothbrush,' says Ben, patting his jacket.
    Elaine asks why the hotel staff call him Mr Gladstone. He explains about her mother wanting him to drive her home and asking him in. He admits they were lovers and had assignations at the Taft, where he used the name Gladstone.
    Ben and Elaine are silent. Both are clearly thinking about their situation. Ben eventually breaks the silence.
    'Ever done three in a bed?' he asks.
    The man in the seventh row grimaces.
    Elaine is shocked and goes off to college in Berkeley. Ben tells his parents he is going to marry her. They are delighted, until he admits that not only has he not told Mr and Mrs Robinson, but he has not discussed it with Elaine. He drives up to Berkeley and takes a room in a cheap rooming house. The other residents include a young Richard Dreyfuss who has enrolled on the Shark Studies course, and will himself come into conflict with Mr Robinson when the latter refuses to close Amity's beaches just because a great white shark is eating the holiday-makers. By this time Mr Robinson will have changed his name to Mr Vaughn but is clearly still a very bitter man after his treatment by Mrs Robinson.
    Mrs Robinson has told Elaine that Ben raped her. She wants Elaine to marry a rich medical student, whose peers include a young Ryan O'Neal. He looks puzzled when Ben says that he hopes Ali gets better soon. Ben looks momentarily sombre and shakes his head sadly as he walks away. Elaine tells Ben she does not care if he raped her mother; she loves him and wants to marry him. But for some reason that is not entirely clear, Ben is late for the wedding. He does not know where they are getting married, his Alfa Romeo is out of petrol and when he starts to run the last few blocks he seems to be running without getting anywhere.
    Ben is wearing a hooded jacket of the type that used to be called a windcheater. Underneath he is wearing a plain black shirt. There is a look of tremendous relief on Elaine's face as he arrives at the church. She is dressed in a traditional white wedding dress, including the usual crumpled-up net curtain on her head. He joins her at