When I read the short story, I was very surprised. I expected it to be more like the movie. Firstly, his parents kept him. In the movie they don't. But what surprised me the most was how he in personality represented those ages as well, not just in looks and problems with his body. As an old man, he was born 5'7". (Can you say painful??) But he could talk as well. It was very weird.
When he went through the stages he really annoyed me. Like he started out old and got younger in his mind. But when it came to his wife, he seemed to stay the same age almost. He started out liking her for her looks when he was 50 and then as she got older, he stopped liking her because she was no longer pretty. In that point, he never actually seemed mature.
I thought it rather crazy how the author presented the people. They were very fickle and soon forgot things, even who he was. He seemed to have a low opinion of people in general. Then there was the fact that all thought it was his fault rather than a medical miracle. His wife and son complained that he would not stop changing and that he should stop what he was doing. In this way it seemed to be a criticism on society at the time. He criticized how the people all seemed to fit into a norm rather than accepting the differences. People were not worried about the health of the old baby as I would have been. It would have scared me thinking that my baby was about to die because he started out so old. No, they were just worried about what society would think about them when they saw him.
Benjamin Button was a weird character in that I wanted to feel sorry for him and his situation, but really could not. In the beginning I did, but soon afterward I was just disgusted with him because I really expected him to mature instead of immature. But I know this is what the world probably felt about him too and it makes me feel like just one of the crowd when I read it like that. However, in the end I began to feel sorry for him as his helplessness set in and he was forced to rely on people who were simply embarrassed of him. The short story as a whole presented something completely original and different. It made me think of how I would react in the case of something so different. Would I be like the ordinary people or would I make an effort to be sympathetic to the situation?
This is a very interesting post. It is true that there are many loopholes in the whole story. I picked up on a few of these also. One of my favorites is exactly how a man came out of his mother and what happens after he dies? Does he just slowly keep getting smaller until he disappears? Overall although I did enjoy Benjamin, I can see your point and liked hearing another view of the character. Thanks for posting.
ReplyDeleteI was shocked like you were when I read the short story and noticed how different it was from the movie. This is one of the reasons that I have set a rule for myself that I read the books before I will go and see a movie made after it. I like to see what the story was originally supposed to mean and not Hollywood's interpretation. Sometimes it seems that those who created the movie read a completely different text then I did. While some movies made after books are done well and are enjoyable to watch, the original writings always seem to be best.
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