The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (short story)
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| The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | |
|---|---|
| Author | F. Scott Fitzgerald |
| Country | U.S.A. |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Short Story |
| Publication date | May 27, 1922 |
| Media type | Print (Magazine) |
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" is a short story written by F. Scott Fitzgerald and first published in Colliers Magazine on May 27, 1922. It was subsequently anthologized in his book, Tales of the Jazz Age, which occasionally is published as The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Other Jazz Age Stories.[1] Development rights to the story were held for years by the late Hollywood mogul Ray Stark. He retained those rights until his death in 2004, when they were purchased from his estate and used for an adaption of the story as the 2008 film of the same name, which was directed by David Fincher.
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[edit] Plot
The short story begins with the birth of the protagonist, Benjamin, in 1860. Benjamin is born with the physical appearance of a seventy-year-old man ("threescore and ten"), and when his father first visits him, a few hours after his birth, he already is able to speak. To avoid embarrassment, Benjamin's father forces him (whom he first calls Methuselah) to shave off his beard and dye his hair in order to look younger. He also forces Benjamin to play with the neighborhood boys, and buys him toys and orders him to play with them throughout the day. Benjamin obediently plays with them, but only to please his father. Benjamin finds more joy in smoking his father's cigars, reading encyclopedias, and talking to his grandfather. He is sent to kindergarten at the age of five, but is soon withdrawn from the class after repeated instances of falling asleep during child-oriented activities.
As the story progresses it soon becomes apparent to the Button family that Benjamin is aging backward, which astounds them beyond belief. At the age of eighteen he enrolls in Yale University; however, having run out of hair-dye on the day that he is due to register for classes, the officials at Yale send him away believing that he is a fifty-year-old lunatic.
Several years later, while attending a party with his father (who now looks to be the same age as Benjamin), Benjamin meets the young Hildegarde Moncrief, the daughter of a respected Civil War general. Hildegarde tells Benjamin that she would rather be with an older man because they treat women better. He dances with her, and they quickly fall in love and marry. Benjamin soon takes over his father's hardware business and he proves to be highly adept at the job, growing fabulously rich.
As Benjamin "grows younger," he begins to feel healthier and happier; as Fitzgerald says, "the blood flowed with new vigour through his veins." However, his wife ceases to attract him as she ages, and he soon decides to fight in the Spanish-American War. He serves with great distinction and earns a medal for a wound received at the Battle of San Juan Hill. When he returns home his relationship with his wife deteriorates further and he becomes more detached from her. He often leaves the house and goes to lavish parties and dances, while his wife lives a more settled life.
In 1910 Benjamin turns over control of his company to his son, Roscoe, and enrolls at Harvard, having the appearance of a twenty-year-old. His first year at Harvard is a great success, and he is dominant on the football field. However, by the time Benjamin reaches his senior year he is a weak sixteen-year-old, unable to play football and barely able to cope with the academic load.
Benjamin returns home, and learns that his wife has moved to Italy. As the years progress, he goes from being a moody teenager to being a young boy who is cared for reluctantly by his son, who treats him very disdainfully, demanding that Benjamin call him "uncle" in front of house guests. Eventually, he looks to be the same age as his own grandson and even attends kindergarten with him. As his body grows younger, Button slowly begins to lose his memory of his earlier life. The toys and games that he had spurned as a newborn begin to interest him. As he reaches the end of his life he becomes a baby, and his nurse, Nana, takes him for walks and teaches him to say words. His memory deteriorates to the point where he can't remember anything except the immediate present, and eventually, everything faded to dark.
[edit] Film adaptation
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was released as a motion picture late in the 2008 season. It stars Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. The screenplay differs greatly from the book. Only the title, Benjamin's name, and most aspects of the aging process described in the book are retained in the screenplay.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button in Wikisource.- Full text of the story online at The University of Virginia
- Full text of the story online at Feedbooks.com
- Tales of the Jazz Age at Project Gutenberg
- Complete recording of original unabridged version of the 1921 short story at Archive.org
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