Themes
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.
Themes
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.
Themes
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.
Once again, it’s evident that even the most pressing gossip eventually fades away. Even though Benjamin and Hildegarde’s marriage originally created such a scandal, society as a whole seems to have forgotten about it. But now there’s yet another reason to gossip about Benjamin and Hildegarde, though the circumstances are reversed: whereas everybody used to think that Hildegarde was throwing away her youth by marrying someone so much older than her, now everybody thinks Benjamin is throwing away his youth by staying with Hildegarde. This just shows that gossip has a life of its own, surging in certain moments before eventually falling away—until, that is, the next big scandal comes along.
Themes
Literary Devices
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.
Benjamin’s personality continues to change as he ages in reverse. Now that he looks like a man in his early 20s, he’s solely focused on leading an active, entertaining life. Compared to the slow existence he led at the beginning of his life, he now seems full of energy. His disinterest in running his hardware business also highlights how much he has changed: instead of showing responsibility, he seeks out fun and adventure. This behavior does—in some regards—line up with the standard aging process, since his desire to move on from the hardware business is similar to how most people embrace retirement after a lifetime of work. In a strange way, then, his journey through life isn’t so different from other people’s.
Themes
Get the entire The Curious Case of Benjamin Button LitChart as a printable PDF.
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.
By leaving his age-related worries behind, Benjamin fully becomes a quintessential young person. After all, young people generally don’t worry about aging and mortality as much as older people do. Therefore, the fact that Benjamin forgets about his concerns once again suggests that his whole way of being is directly tied to whatever developmental stage he’s currently going through. And this, in turn, shows that identity largely depends on the stage of life a person is in. Unfortunately for Hildegarde, though, this means that Benjamin takes on the rather perspective of a stereotypical young man, especially when it comes to romance. Unsurprisingly, this places an even greater strain on their relationship.
Themes
