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Chapter 7
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Age, Development, and Identity
Reputation, Gossip, and Scandal
Expectations and Acceptance
Support and Caretaking
Summary
Analysis
Hildegarde gives Benjamin a warm welcome and a loving kiss when he returns from the war, but he’s depressed by how old she looks. She’s now 40, and her hair is beginning to gray. In contrast, he’s alarmed by the his own face’s youthfulness when he goes upstairs and looks in the mirror. He’d hoped that his reverse-aging would stop once he reached a certain point, but now he sees this isn’t the case. He looks like he’s 30, and though he used to like these changes, they now make him worried and uncomfortable.
Benjamin has spent his entire life dealing with the superficial judgments people make about him based on his appearance. Now, though, he views Hildegarde in the same superficial way, losing interest in her just because of how she looks. In some ways, this is yet another sign that Benjamin’s entire personality has changed in accordance with his developmental stage. Once again, he takes on the stereotypical identity of whatever phase of life he’s in, this time acting like a young man who only shows interest in women he finds attractive.
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Literary Devices
At dinner that night, Benjamin brings up the fact that he looks younger than ever before, which offends Hildegarde. She thinks he’s bragging about his youthful good looks. According to her, he should have the dignity to put an end to this ridiculous reversal of the aging process. And though he argues, she refuses to recognize that he can’t stop it—if he had any sense, she implies, he would stop being so inconsiderate by purposefully making himself “different.” There’s no arguing with her on this point, so Benjamin simply stops trying.
The reason Hildegarde can’t accept Benjamin’s reverse aging is that she fell in love with a different version of him. Indeed, she was initially drawn to him because he was a dignified older man—something she found very appealing. As he ages in reverse, though, it becomes increasingly difficult for him to be the person she expects him to be. Thus, instead of emotionally supporting him as he makes his way toward childhood (an obviously disconcerting process), she resents him for changing.
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During this period, Benjamin yearns for excitement. He goes to every party in Baltimore, dragging Hildegarde with him. He spends these evenings dancing with the most attractive young women while Hildegarde sits and watches him with scorn. This attracts all sorts of comments from the community, as people talk about how unfortunate it is that this strapping young gentleman has been saddled with an old woman. Of course, the young people talking this way have forgotten (or don’t know) that years ago, their parents used the same disapproving tone to talk about Benjamin and Hildegarde’s marriage.
Benjamin picks up new hobbies, golfing and spending his spare time perfecting the popular dance moves of the day. He and his son, Roscoe, look increasingly alike and are often mistaken for each other. Roscoe has just graduated from Harvard and is poised to take over the family business, which makes Benjamin happy because he’s too occupied with his exciting new life to care about work.
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All of Benjamin’s new activities help him forget about the worries he had when he first came back from the Spanish-American War. Instead of fretting about his reverse-aging process, he simply takes pleasure in his youthful appearance. The only thing that bothers him these days is going out with Hildegarde, who is now almost 50. Being seen with her makes him feel ridiculous.
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