The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

[Dark Muse]

I just finished reading this story, and it was quite interesting and very different. I thought it did have some very beautiful passages within it. Though I did not completely understand just what the meaning behind the story was. I felt as if Benjamin did not really accomplish much or really develop or learn anything as the story progressed, his unusual case did not really seem to offer any true life lessons.

While it was unfair the way he was treated by others, particularly the various members of his own family, and I did feel bad the way in which they seemed to look upon him as if he was to blame, and simply purposefully trying to inconsistencies them all and all Benjamin did not come across as a truly sympathetic character.

I did not find his personality, or who he was as a person to be particularly likeable, and in many ways he did seem to be selfish and demanding, and while his condition was not his fault, on the other hand he failed to try and understand how others might be affected by the unusualness of his situation.

What struck me the most though and really turned me off, was the hypocritical way in which he treated his wife. When he was to the eye a man of 50 he was all too happy to marry a beautiful young woman in her 20's but as his age began to decline, and while she grew older and the roles became reversed, he grew scornful of her and ashamed to be seen with her. She was no longer his trophy wife and so he resented being tied down with her.

[Chava]

Are we supposed to be sympathetic towards Benjamin?

[Dark Muse]

I am not sure what the authors intent was toward Benjamain was, and if he was intending to be critical or not. Though if it was never intended to make him sympathetic, I can see even less of a meaning behind the story. Why would you have a story with a character who has this unusual life experince and yet learns nothing from it.

[Chava]

I've been wondering and wondering about this, and actually i'm upset that the film version was so sugar coated. I'm not sure what the point of this story is, initially when I heard about it, i just thought what a funny tale. Hmm, I need to reread this, because my head is clogged by the cinematics. I'll get back to you Muse :)

[Virgil]

First, there was a thread already started on this here: http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=40270. Perhaps the Mods can join them together.



I just finished reading this story, and it was quite interesting and very different. I thought it did have some very beautiful passages within it. Though I did not completely understand just what the meaning behind the story was. I felt as if Benjamin did not really accomplish much or really develop or learn anything as the story progressed, his unusual case did not really seem to offer any true life lessons.


I took the story to be in the tradition of a tall tale, and tall tales have a way of getting insight into the human condition through distorted and exaggerated reality. I had a certain pity for Benjamin, but if I were to come up with a succinct theme i would say that age is a determining factor to many of our experiences. Fitzgerald, by distorting the aging process, focuses our attention to what our development says of our persona. Hey you know I'm an old and all those years has shaped me to be the old geezer that i am. :D

[Dark Muse]

But all in all Benjamin was not truly a sympathetic charactor, for the most part I did not really like him. There were moments when I felt he was poorly treated, but then he himself was not particuarly nice or understanding. He was kind of a jerk in someways.

[Virgil]

He was a bit self centered but I didn't think he was that much of a jerk. He was in a strange situation. I haven't seen the movie, have you?

[Dark Muse]

I think that whole thing with is his wife was pretty bad. That really ticked me off more then anything. But he was self-centered the whole time. And while I do not justify him being mistreated by others, I think he should still have the wherewithal to understand he was in a strange situation and that other people might not completely understand, so he himself should not be so quick to judge. Perhaps if he was more understanding, other people would have learned to accept him better.

Yes I did see the movie, in some ways I thought the moive was better than the story. It was a good movie but completely different from the stor. But the movie made him a likeable and nice person, and the movie gave more of an acutal meaning to it all than the story did.

[Virgil]

I think that whole thing with is his wife was pretty bad. That really ticked me off more then anything. But he was self-centered the whole time. And while I do not justify him being mistreated by others, I think he should still have the wherewithal to understand he was in a strange situation and that other people might not completely understand, so he himself should not be so quick to judge. Perhaps if he was more understanding, other people would have learned to accept him better.

Yes I did see the movie, in some ways I thought the moive was better than the story. It was a good movie but completely different from the stor. But the movie made him a likeable and nice person, and the movie gave more of an acutal meaning to it all than the story did.

I think the younger he gets, the more self centered he becomes.

[Chava]

I would assume, that if everyone is making a big deal about who you are because you came out wrong, it's hard not to fixate on yourself.

It must be so strange, in your head to know that you are becoming younger, and knowing that those consequences will haev to be dealt with.

In the film, he leaves his wife, but he does so saying that "you can't raise both of us". And they meet later, when he is a teenager, and he says something like, "I'm only young on the outside" he still loves her. But I prefer the book. realisticly, a self centered teenager, who is on a ethical/maturity decline wouldn't really want to be seen with and old woman like that... and lets face it, the complexity of emotion, sympathy and affection matures as we become older, small things that are significant when we are young stop mattering. Long winded, I'm sorry, again, I really need to reread that book.

[Dark Muse]

But in the story when he looks young on the outside, isn't he suppose to be older on the inside? Becasue when he is first born as an "old man" he still acts like a child and thinks like a child, he does not act like a mature adult. So even though he looks longer, shouldn't he still be getting more mature internally?

[Tyler Self]

Benjamin Button was perhaps the most touching short story I have ever read. The movie wasn't bad at all either...;)

[Bumbeli]

I've never read the story itself, but I went to see the movie yesterday evening and I would really like to know if there is a huge difference between the book and the film, as my memories don't really match the statements here, but maybe I just didn't get it.

[Sharon50]

I just watched the movie and have never read the book..... after the differences you have described regarding the character of Benjamin..... I think I'll just keep the movie character in mind. Is that scandalous?

I was thinking however of a lesson I learned from this. You know how some of us say, "I wish I could live my life over again.... but only as long as I know then what I know now". I don't think I'll ever wish that again..... the whole experience Benjamin had was so unnatural and so unkind to those around him and to himself. We each have a journey to live and God is patient and has given us enough time to complete it.

[Nemo Neem]

I think of this story in this way:

Old people always complain that they want to be young again, asking "What if I could wish to be young again? Oh, how I wish I wouldn't suffer!" Well, this story's lesson is this: we are only young once: time is a constant strand, and we can't cheat death, no matter what. So, even though Button degressed in age, he still died. So, either way, young or old, death is coming. Also, old people should enjoy being old, as Button didn't even really got to accomplish anything -- as he wasn't "wise."

[Brad Coelho]

I think of this story in this way:

Old people always complain that they want to be young again, asking "What if I could wish to be young again? Oh, how I wish I wouldn't suffer!" Well, this story's lesson is this: we are only young once: time is a constant strand, and we can't cheat death, no matter what. So, even though Button degressed in age, he still died. So, either way, young or old, death is coming. Also, old people should enjoy being old, as Button didn't even really got to accomplish anything -- as he wasn't "wise."

Be careful what you wish for on the surface, there are underlying consequences to even the most seemingly blissful fantasies.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

I found this to be a poor story. It was a wonderful idea, and I think Fitzgerald could (and should) have done something more with it. I just commented about Fitgerald's prose that he is a master of exemplifying the idea of "show, don't tell" (as in Tender is the Night and Great Gatsby), but in this he seems to just throw it on the page. I also remember not feeling much of anything for Benjamin; he seemed so underdeveloped emotionally.

The movie was okay. The first hald was great, the ending amazing, but man, did it drag. I also saw the movie first, which may have changed how I would've found the book had I read it first, since the movie was so grand and emotional.

[Brad Coelho]

Is it just me or do short stories make for a more satisfying film experience?

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

Oh, definitely. With a short story, the film version can actually cover everything that happens in a short story, or in the case of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, add to it. When it's a novel, there just isn't any way to put all of it into a film without taking parts out, with exceptions (Fight Club comes to mind). I think that's also why TV mini-series also work better for novels.