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statements regarding gardens and gardening (the only subject he knows) are interpreted as powerful metaphors for economic growth and cycles. Rand is the first to fall under his spell, and under Rand’s sponsorship, he meets powerful and influential people, including business leaders, ambassadors and the
President of the USA, who mentions him on TV, as a result of which he appears on a current affairs show himself. The impression he makes is uniformly positive.
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The intellectually handicapped Chance works as a gardener for the Old Man, a retired senior lawyer. Chance’s mother, also intellectually handicapped, died in childbirth; his father is unknown. He has lived in the Old Man’s house all his life, never leaving the house and garden. All his needs (food
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E.E. unsuccessfully tries to seduce Chance, viewing him as a possible successor to the dying Ben. Chance lacks knowledge of romantic relationships, having only learned from TV. At a party, a male guest tries similarly, to Chance’s incomprehension, with equal lack of success. E.E. tries again, and
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Chance is illiterate. His only interests are tending the garden, with which he has a deep affinity, and watching TV. His name, or rather nickname, refers to the random circumstances of his birth, which never appears to have been registered. Nor is he recorded in any official records: he has never
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President and the Soviet ambassador try to get information about Chance’s background, and both fail. The fact that each knows the other is trying creates a further imperative to find out. Finally, it is suggested that with his lack of "history", he is an ideal candidate for high office,
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Chance possesses only scanty information picked up from TV, but his naïve and sometimes disconnected responses to questions and conversation are interpreted as oracular by his hearers, who seemingly go out of their way to provide context and ulterior meaning to his statements. Specifically, his
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The Old Man dies, and the lawyers responsible for the estate tell Chance he must vacate. He does so, carrying all his possessions in a suitcase. While crossing the street, he is struck and slightly injured by a limousine owned by the elderly and terminally ill
Benjamin Rand, a retired senior
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movement during the late 1960s and early 1970s, whom
Kosinski had met at the local TM Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and who embodied the calm and simple manner of Chauncey Gardiner. The Cambridge TM Center was for years located at the corner of Chauncy and Garden Streets.
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executive. Rand’s much younger wife
Elizabeth Eve ("E.E."), who was riding in the car at the time, insists that he be treated by her husband’s doctor, and convalesce at their luxurious home. They mishear his name as ‘Chauncey Gardiner’ which becomes his de facto identity.
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Chance states the nearest thing to a philosophy: that seeing is preferable to touching since it is more broadly encompassing. E.E. exposes herself to him, though he makes no specific response and it is unclear what he gains from it.
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The story ends with Chance leaving a reception to find peace in the garden of the venue. It remains unclear to the end how much if anything he understands of the events of the story, which takes place over only a few days.
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and presumably clothing and laundry) are met by the Old Man via his servants. His only personal contact is with the servant tasked with servicing his needs.
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Date of publication from Kirkus
Reviews. Excerpts were published in magazines in fall 1970, confusing the publication date of the book. See
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Adamczyk-Grabowska, Monika (2001). "The Role of Polish
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attended any school, been hospitalized, received any welfare benefit, or earned any income.
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possibly the Vice-Presidency (though this is not stated explicitly).
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Inspired by Chance — Jerzy
Kosinski's Being There (1979)
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