F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button follows the story of Benjamin Button, who is growing younger instead of older. His unusual disease affected the way he lived his life through its entirety. Depending on his age, he behaved in a way that was expected of him by society, even if the scenario was ridiculous for everyone involved. Fitzgerald's story explores the themes of life, societal pressure, and family as the reader follows Benjamin’s unique experience with his aging disease. Both his family and society never truly accepted Benjamin because they never saw him for who he was, instead they wanted to mold him into what was socially acceptable. While this story does bring attention to the power society possesses over people,

He was also baffled with his own condition as anyone else was, because it states in the text, “He was as puzzled as anyone else at the apparently advanced age of his mind and body at birth. He read up on it in the medical journal, but found that no such case had been previously recorded.” (Fitzgerald, 11.) Benjamin began aging backwards, and he took notice of this. However, those around him still saw him as an older man and called him delusional when he tried to partake in the activities a man of twenty would usually do. Benjamin married at the age of twenty, but to the dismay of his wife, he grew younger as she grew older. As he lost the maturity he once had as an elderly man, he began enjoying the better side of life. At the same time, Benjamin began disregarding his wife and son and this worried him greatly. As stated in the text, “She went out socially with him, but without enthusiasm, devoured already by that eternal inertia which comes to live with each of us one day and

His disinterest in his family and recklessness of life came to him when he looked to be twenty, unable to change his condition for the sake of his wife and son. If Benjamin had tried to ‘act his age’ and please his family, the result would have been futile. His mental state was waning and his psychique was becoming more reminiscent of a young child than a sixty year old man. This cycle continued, without an end, until all memories of his family and experiences were forgotten by him when he reached the end of his life. Benjamin was never able to accept his regression, because there was a consequence of being so matured at a young age and infantile at an older age. Just like aging in real life, one cannot control the process even it's for the sake of their loved ones. One cannot change the way they think or feel either, because age dictates who someone is as well as the way that act at a particular age. People looked at Benjamin oddly because he was too mature for his young age, and the same occurred when he was too childish for his old age. Benjamin knew of his condition, but what else was he to do but let it happen? He could not change the fact that he was different, and in the end