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Roger Button
Roscoe Button is Benjamin and Hildegarde’s son. Just like Benjamin, he joins the family hardware business when he comes of age, eventually taking it over when Benjamin loses interest in the company. When Benjamin later becomes a teenager, Roscoe lets his father come live with him—Benjamin, after all, has nowhere else to go. He is embarrassed about his father’s condition, however; when Benjamin eventually becomes a young boy, Roscoe says that he must refer to him as “Uncle” in the presence of guests. Instead of kindly caring for his father, then, Roscoe focuses more on his own reputation, becoming yet another person in Benjamin’s life who fails to give him genuine love and support. And this, in turn, leads Benjamin to a very lonely end, since Roscoe—the only family member left to comfort him as he nears death—shies away from connecting with him. Instead, he hires a professional nurse, Nana, to take care of Benjamin.
Roscoe Button Quotes in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The The Curious Case of Benjamin Button quotes below are all either spoken by Roscoe Button or refer to Roscoe Button. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 9 Quotes
But though he was welcomed in a general way, there was obviously no heartiness in Roscoe’s feeling toward him—there was even perceptible a tendency on his son’s part to think that Benjamin, as he moped about the house in adolescent mooniness, was somewhat in the way. Roscoe was married now and prominent in Baltimore life, and he wanted no scandal to creep out in connection with his family.
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After Benjamin graduates from Harvard University, he has nobody to turn to for support except Roscoe, his adult son. Hildegarde has moved to Italy to live on her own, so she isn’t around to help him as he transitions from a young man into a teenager. This calls attention to the lack of caring, supportive people in Benjamin’s life. Of course, he has Roscoe, but his son isn’t happy to have him “mop[ing]” around the house like a moody teenager, clearly seeing Benjamin as nothing but a burden. Roscoe’s hesitancy to fully embrace his father is rooted in an obsession Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus e
“And another thing,” continued Roscoe, “when visitors are in the house I want you to call me ‘Uncle’—not ‘Roscoe,’ but ‘Uncle,’ do you understand? It looks absurd for a boy of fifteen to call me by my first name. Perhaps you’d better call me ‘Uncle’ all the time, so you’ll get used to it.”
With a harsh look at his father, Roscoe turned away. . . .
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Roscoe says this shortly after Benjamin moves in with him. The fact that he’s so worried about what visitors will think about Benjamin’s age calls attention to his fear of losing face in society. Seeing himself as an important, respectable gentleman, Roscoe frets that his status will suffer if his friends think he’s willing to let a 15-year-old boy talk down to him. Once again, then, somebody close to Benjamin prioritizes status and reputation over showing him support and kindness. Another interesting thing about this moment is the mere idea that Roscoe’s friends don’t know that Benjamin is actually his Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor a
Chapter 11 Quotes
Roscoe took them both to kindergarten on the same day and Benjamin found that playing with little strips of colored paper, making mats and chains and curious and beautiful designs, was the most fascinating game in the world.
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This passage describes Benjamin’s process of becoming a child, specifically focusing on the period during which he has the mind and body of a kindergartener. Going to school alongside Roscoe’s son, he discovers that he loves playing with “little strips of colored paper.” This is an important detail, since Benjamin showed no interest in playing with colored paper when he first attended kindergarten, back when he had the mind and body of an elderly man. Now, though, he finds simple arts and crafts delightful. This shift makes it very easy to see the extent to which Benjamin’s entire way of Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. D
Roscoe’s son moved up into the first grade after a year, but Benjamin stayed on in the kindergarten. He was very happy. Sometimes when other tots talked about what they would do when they grew up a shadow would cross his little face as if in a dim, childish way he realized that those were things in which he was never to share.
The days flowed on in monotonous content.
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Even though Benjamin stays in kindergarten while Roscoe’s son moves on, he seems perfectly happy—except, that is, when he has the momentary realization that he’ll never again be a full-grown adult. The fact that this only occurs to him from time to time—like a “shadow” passing over his face—indicates that he doesn’t actually remember his past life. He’s no longer aware of his reverse-aging condition. Instead of thinking about how he’s actually quite old, he simply lives in the moment, and this protects him from the sadness he’d otherwise feel about nearing the end of his life. This is why Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Volup
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Roscoe Button Character Timeline in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The timeline below shows where the character Roscoe Button appears in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 7
...longer finds Hildegarde attractive. She’s now 35 and is the mother of Benjamin’s 14-year-old son, Roscoe, but Benjamin no longer finds her exciting. And it’s not just her looks that fail...
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Chapter 8
...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...
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Chapter 9
After graduating from Harvard, Benjamin returns to Baltimore and moves in with Roscoe, since Hildegarde has moved to Italy. Now an important man in Baltimore society, Roscoe is...
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With this in mind, Roscoe tells Benjamin to drop the idea of enrolling at St. Midas, finding it ridiculous that...
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Chapter 10
In his room at Roscoe’s house, Benjamin looks at his smooth, hairless chin in the mirror and wishes he could...
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...to duty. Confused, the colonel takes Benjamin and the letter to headquarters. Two days later, Roscoe arrives to bring Benjamin home.
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Chapter 11
Roscoe has his first child in 1920. Nobody mentions that Benjamin, who now looks like a...
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The next year, Roscoe’s son moves on to first grade while Benjamin stays behind, but this doesn’t bother him...
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...because they’re so much bigger than him. Even his kindergarten teacher can’t soothe him, so Roscoe removes him from school. At home, he spends all his time with a nurse, Nana....
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