The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Plot

In the curious case of Benjamin Button, I almost see the plot as a backwards storyline. This is due to how the main character, Benjamin Button, is born a seventy year old man and then progressively ages younger. In the plot their still exists an exposition, rising action, etc., but those elements of the plot almost seem reversed (but they are not) due to the reversed aging of Benjamin. However, the plot consisting of the reversed aging is what significantly impacts the story and how I was able to compare different ages. By having Benjamin Button being born and "apparently of 70 years old" inevitably causes the reader to compare him to a child during that part of the story, and visa versa towards the end of the story. By this occuring, I was able to spot out how old people are so alike helpless children and how children how like the old. I believe this to be a theme of the work making the plot and essential element to understanding it.



Point of View

The point of view present in this short story can be described as ominiscent point of view. The narrator does not know detail solely on Benjamin, but also on his family around him. The first few pages are about Roger Button alone. By having an ominiscent point of view, the reader can be given more detail about other characters. This helps me compare Benjamin to other characters. For example, on page 50, the author described Roscoe as having "obviously no heartiness in feeling toward [Benjamin]--there was even perceptible a tendency on his son's part to think that Benjamin...was somewhat in the way." By being able to have an all-knowing narrator, we can get descriptions like these. This description about Rosco helped us compare Benjamin to and old man. At this time in the story, Benjamin growing more a child, and as grown children take care of their parents when they get too old, Benjamin needed to be cared for by his son. This is how ominiscent point of view is necessary for this story.



Characterization

The author reveals Benjamin to us through indirect characterization. This, again, is also an effective tool in comparing Benjamin's apparent age to people of his true age. By only being able to figure out Benjamin through his actions, we are given even more detail and experiences that help us compare him. If we were told that, as an old man (when actually he was just born), Benjamin was senile and cranky, I would not compare him to a child because this is not an accurate description of a child's personality. But through action that can both replicate an old man's action and child's action, we can easily compare the two. For example, on page 20, Benjamin's father warns him that doing bad things such as what Benjamin had done earlier could "stunt his growth." Regular children would noramally be told this, but in this case Benjamin is and it resembles that of how a parent would talk to a small child. Also, Benjamin is most certainly a dynamic character throughout the short story.



Setting

Throughout the short story there are multiple settings. For the most part, Benjanin remains at his home in what I believe to be Maryland. The only other major settings that occur in the story is when Benjamin goes off to fight the Spanish-American War and goes to college. This setting also shows how both extremes of age are very similar. When Benjamin is seen as a seventy year old (but really just born) he stays at home with his father who takes care of him. Then as he comes to the middle of his life, he enters the military and then goes to college. Then towards his childhood (but really when he is around 50 or so), he has to go back home and since"Hildegarde was now residing in Italy, Benjamin went to live with his son, Roscoe." This resembles the regular setting of a person who ages normally. Children have to stay at home and be taken care of, and old people also have to be at some consistent place and be taken care of.



Theme

While this story was very interesting, it was very hard to extract a theme from it. The story was very easy to follow and was interesting as well. But when I got to the end, it is difficult to find some sort of theme or lesson learned from reading this short story. Because of this, it is neccessary to dwell deeper into what maybe the author wants the reader to get from reading this short story. So when thinking deeply into what a theme could be, I decided that the story teaches how going in the wrong direction in life can be a very bad thing. For Benjamin, he was going in the opposite direction than everyone else in terms of his age. Because of this, he would not change as the other people changed around him. As his wife got older, he got younger and started to dislike the oldness of his wife. He was become her previous youth while she was becoming his previous old age. This brings conflict between the two. There are also many other examples throughout this story which are representative of the theme.