30 pages 1 hour read

F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1922

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Character Analysis

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.

Related Titles

By F. Scott Fitzgerald

Study Guide

logo

Babylon Revisited

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Babylon Revisited

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Study Guide

logo

Bernice Bobs Her Hair

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Bernice Bobs Her Hair

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Plot Summary

logo

Crazy Sunday

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Crazy Sunday

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Plot Summary

logo

May Day

F. Scott Fitzgerald

May Day

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Study Guide

logo

Tender Is the Night

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Tender Is the Night

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Plot Summary

logo

The Beautiful and Damned

F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Beautiful and Damned

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Plot Summary

logo

The Diamond as Big as the Ritz

F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Diamond as Big as the Ritz

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Study Guide

logo

The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Study Guide

logo

The Last Tycoon

F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Last Tycoon

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Study Guide

logo

This Side of Paradise

F. Scott Fitzgerald

This Side of Paradise

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Study Guide

logo

Winter Dreams

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Winter Dreams

F. Scott Fitzgerald