The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Benjamin Button is born into a situation he doesn’t understand, and he struggles for acceptance for much of his life. “Where in God’s name did you come from? Who are you?” his father asks upon first meeting him. “I can’t tell you exactly who I am,” Benjamin replies (172). As a baby, he is too old to be accepted as a baby, and as an old man, he is too young to be accepted as an old man.

In the middle years of his life, however, the prime of life for many people, his age in years and in life experience align, and he finds acceptance, love, and worldly success. He proves himself in business, in battle, and on the football field, establishing an identity mirrored by, and flowing from, his standing in his family and society.

From the moment he is born, his relationships are defined by whether his appearance is deemed appropriate to his corresponding stage of life. He is thrown into intergenerational clashes that shape him and delimit the conditions of his social roles. As with many men, father-son relations make an enormous impact on who is and what he is capable of accomplishing. First as a son and later as a father, transitional periods of life cause great embarrassment and pain as he is forced him to accept diminished roles against his will.