Benjamin Button F. Scott Fitzgerald Is Commonly

Benjamin Button

F. Scott Fitzgerald is commonly thought of as one the 20th century's greatest writers and is best known for his reflections on the society of the 1920's; named the "Jazz Age" by Fitzgerald himself. But one of his short stories, published in Colliers magazine in 1922 was a purely fictional account of a remarkable man named Benjamin Button. In his The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Fitzgerald examines a number of themes including a family's place in society, how individuals refuse to accept reality and live in a state of denial, and even a person's place within the family structure. But the theme that was presented repeatedly by Fitzgerald was the concept of age and how it affects a person's attitudes and relationships in the world.

Benjamin Button is remarkable in so much as he is born in 1860 as a 70-year-old man, and as time progresses forward, Benjamin ages backward. In others words, he was born a 70-year-old man, with the knowledge and attitudes of one, but twenty years later Benjamin was a 50-year-old man. This continues through the next seventy years with a number of interesting situations happening along the way. And as Benjamin ages backwards, his attitudes and relationships change in interesting ways. When Benjamin first comes home from the hospital his parents, humiliated by their son's appearance, react in a strange way; they force him to act like an infant. However, Benjamin's most enjoyable relationship is that with his grandfather. Although they were, as Fitzgerald stated, "so far apart in age and experience," they would sit "like old cronies, discuss[ing] with tireless monotony the slow events of the day." (Fitzgerald, 1, III) Even though Benjamin was just born, because he was already a 70-year-old, he could relate better to another old man than to his parents or other children.

When Benjamin reaches the eighteenth year after his birth, he has the appearance of a 50-year-old man and allows people to believe that he is his father's brother. In this guise, Benjamin begins a relationship with a young woman, Hildegarde Moncrief, who is attracted to older men. They soon marry and Benjamin, no longer seeking the company of the elderly, assumes his role as head of his household and an excellent provider. In fact, in the fifteen years after his marriage to Hildegarde, "the family fortune doubled-- and this was due largely to the younger member of the firm [Benjamin]." (Fitzgerald, 1, VII) As Benjamin becomes a middle aged man, he assumes the role of the middle aged man. But as more time goes by and he continues to get younger, Hildegarde grows older and he is no longer able to maintain his relationship with his wife. As he grows younger Benjamin becomes more social, while his aging wife becomes less. "As a bride it been she who had 'dragged' Benjamin to dances and dinners -- now conditions were reversed." (Fitzgerald, 1, VII) By 1898, thirty eight years after his birth and with the appearance of a 32-year-old man, Benjamin leaves his wife and fourteen-year-old son to enlist in the Army for the Spanish-American War. Benjamin, as a younger man seeks the action and adventure younger men seek; not a long-time relationship with an older woman.

In 1920, Benjamin's grandson is born and within five years Benjamin and his grandson are relating to each other. Benjamin has been alive for 65 years but has the appearance and intellectual capacity of a five-year-old; the same as his grandson. Benjamin's life comes around in a complete circle as once again grandson and grandfather build a relationship. But in a strange way it is reversed as the two are both children, not old men. Benjamin's attitude toward the world also changes to that of a five years old, and "playing with little strips of colored paper, making colored mats and chains and curious and beautiful designs, was the most fascinating game in the world." (Fitzgerald, 2, I)