The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The short story “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” was published in 1922 by F. Scott Fitzgerald, who was a pillar of American literature from 1920 until his death in 1940. “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” follows a 70-year-old man who is destined to age backwards. Though Fitzgerald is best known for novels like The Great Gatsby (1925) and Tender is the Night (1934), he also completed more than 160 short stories. Today, Fitzgerald is regarded as one of the best American writers of the 20th century, though he experienced only moderate success during his life. “Benjamin Button” was adapted into a major motion picture in 2008, with Brad Pitt starring as the protagonist.

Summary

This is a story about Benjamin Button, an infant who is born as a 70-year-old man and ages in reverse.

Set near the time of the Civil War, when Benjamin is born, his father and mother struggle to accept his condition, forcing Benjamin to act his actual age. Benjamin, on the other hand, dresses and thinks like an older man, wanting to wear a suit and smoke a cigar.

After failing to integrate into school, eventually Benjamin begins to notice that he is looking younger.  His skin is tightening and he is becoming more energetic.

Soon after, Benjamin and his father, almost similar in appearance in terms of age, attend a party where he meets a young woman named Hildegarde. Despite the fact that Benjamin is approximately twenty years older than Hildegarde, the couple marries soon after.

After fathering a child, Benjamin continues to grow younger.  He begins to notice that his interests in the party lifestyle are growing, while his interest in his wife is decreasing.

After serving in the army, Benjamin enters college and graduates from Harvard.  In the meantime, his son, Roscoe, has taken over the family hardware store. Even Roscoe, though, is embarrassed to be seen with Benjamin because of how young he looks.  

And in the end, after Benjamin attends kindergarten with his own grandchild, he continues to become younger and younger until his mind starts to blank out, resetting back to an infantile status.

Review

This story takes an interesting look at a life in reverse, but really magnifies the similarities between the polar extremes of a life – the elder and infant years. In both extremes, individuals are highly dependent on extra care.

Behind all of the fantasy, this story also comments on the loneliness of being in a family. Despite the fact that Benjamin is surrounded by a “family,” albeit a distant and apathetic family, the narrator of this story prefers to place him alone. He is often the only person looking out for himself. Even in relationships where we may expect some help, such as from his parents, wife, or child, he is still the primary source for his own well-being.  

The ending scene, where Benjamin’s mind begins to lose consciousness, is quite sad.  He loses all memory of his life, and his universe is reduced to his crib and nurse.  

This juxtaposition of life’s most polar extremes, birth and death, works wonders at the end.  We’re left with a child, who represents new beginnings and birth, while also being left with a literal 70-year-old man who is losing his memories and entering death.

And so it seems that in the course of a natural life, we enter and leave with nothing, no memories at all.