Graduation season is upon us. Speakers everywhere are imparting words of wisdom to eager youngsters who have completed their studies and are preparing to tackle the future. Bruce Eric Kaplan, a cartoonist for the New Yorker, has created a whimsical picture book, "Everything is Going to Be Okay," in which the head of a small college asks an odd-looking nonentity named Edmund to deliver a commencement address. Edmund and his wife Rosemary are stunned that any academic institution would call upon him, since he has done nothing noteworthy. "I guess everyone else was busy," says Rosemary helpfully.
Kaplan, with his stark black and white drawings and satirical captions, makes fun of the platitudes that we hear at so many commencements. Edmund, who has a gigantic case of writer's block, has difficulty coming up with a speech. Time flies by and he finds himself standing at the podium, scared out of his mind. He starts jabbering without coming up for air. It doesn't matter, since no one is listening to him anyway. He finally wraps everything up by saying, "Everything is going to be okay." Then he adds, "Even if it isn't."
Still, Edmund and Kaplan manage to convey some uninspiring ideas: You cannot possibly do everything that you set out to do; although love is pleasant, it can also be dull; and living a long life does not necessarily make you smart or worthy. Just getting up in the morning and getting through your day is a triumph of sorts.
What is the point of this slender book? Kaplan seems to be saying that life is tough, unpredictable, unfair, and often challenging. There's no point in worrying ourselves sick. In fact, if we were to sit down and think about everything that could possibly go wrong, we would be paralyzed with fear. Therefore, we might as give living our best shot, and hope that things turn out reasonably well. This message will not knock anyone's socks off, but "Everything is Going to Be Okay" is a wry and amusing little book for the quirky and unconventional graduate with an off-beat sense of humor.
