Curious Case of Benjamin Button
ALCE 1604 March 5, 2011
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button “He seems to grow younger every year,” and so “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” takes its place, adapted from the 1920’s literary work by F. Scott Fitzgerald about a man who is born in his eighties and ages backwards. In both the literary work and the adapted film by David Fincher we are encountered with the same unusual circumstance, which Benjamin Button is forced to accept and unable change. Even though the literary work and the film carry the same theme of the time travelers tale of Benjamin Button they do so in different manners. The book and the film begin with different settings, and different situations. In the literary work by F. Scott Fitzgerald the story begins with the setting of Roger Button dressing himself hurrying for the hospital to welcome his newborn. In the film adaptation we are first found in a hospital room with a dying lady and her daughter who is reading the story of Benjamin and transcends into the the scene of a running father with his newborn child in arms, trying to escape the eyes of the people. A man of “enviable position, both social and financial,” he is encountered with the most difficult situation a man with his social status could not bear. His newborn, if we refer to him by his actual age, a man in eighties, fragile and tired looking was a tragic and horrifying reality. In the story Benjamin is born able to speak and the size of an elderly man, able to walk with a cane. The Benjamin in the book is born with the characteristics and abilities of a man in his eighties. The film adaptation has Benjamin born with the characteristics of a man in his eighties, but the abilities of a newborn. Though both of the works acknowledge the unusual birth they both interpret the case differently.
In the film Benjamin is adopted from the stairs of a porch after being abandoned by his father. A colored woman by the name of Queenie finds him wrapped around a blanket and takes
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button “He seems to grow younger every year,” and so “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” takes its place, adapted from the 1920’s literary work by F. Scott Fitzgerald about a man who is born in his eighties and ages backwards. In both the literary work and the adapted film by David Fincher we are encountered with the same unusual circumstance, which Benjamin Button is forced to accept and unable change. Even though the literary work and the film carry the same theme of the time travelers tale of Benjamin Button they do so in different manners. The book and the film begin with different settings, and different situations. In the literary work by F. Scott Fitzgerald the story begins with the setting of Roger Button dressing himself hurrying for the hospital to welcome his newborn. In the film adaptation we are first found in a hospital room with a dying lady and her daughter who is reading the story of Benjamin and transcends into the the scene of a running father with his newborn child in arms, trying to escape the eyes of the people. A man of “enviable position, both social and financial,” he is encountered with the most difficult situation a man with his social status could not bear. His newborn, if we refer to him by his actual age, a man in eighties, fragile and tired looking was a tragic and horrifying reality. In the story Benjamin is born able to speak and the size of an elderly man, able to walk with a cane. The Benjamin in the book is born with the characteristics and abilities of a man in his eighties. The film adaptation has Benjamin born with the characteristics of a man in his eighties, but the abilities of a newborn. Though both of the works acknowledge the unusual birth they both interpret the case differently.
In the film Benjamin is adopted from the stairs of a porch after being abandoned by his father. A colored woman by the name of Queenie finds him wrapped around a blanket and takes