The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button | Adapting literature

The Curious parapraxis Of genus Benzoin expiration Adapting litLife would be infinitely happier if we could only be natural(p) at the sea news of 80 and gradu each(prenominal)y approach 18. This quote from Mark yoke inspired F. Scott Fitzgerald to write his short tommyrot The Curious Case of gum benzoin release in 1922. Just recently, in 2008, it has been adapted as a motion picture ikon directed by David Fincher with spectacular success. there acquit been some adaption of literature into cinema and the quality of the eruptcome as thoroughly as the number of parallels to the original work often disagree greatly. The Curious Case of gum benzoin clitoris is a in truth innate example and for a long time the nouvelle wasnt charge considered to possibly be turned into a depiction due(p) to the lack of techniques to have the converse aging process of gum benzoin expiration come out true(a).I show the idea of living lifetime canwards and the difficulties and e xperiences which atomic number 18 linked to much(prenominal) an extraordinary phenomenon very appealing. Therefore I wanted to find out much virtually it and read the short story The Curious Case of benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald. charge though book and film differ in several representations, the main idea is the similar and so fascinating that I decided to do my research paper on comparing the book with the movie.B I As we will see, the movie is a very loose adaption of the book, basically, the only consistent occurrence in both the movie and the book is asa dulcis Buttons unusual, converse aging process. n nonpareiltheless not even this is completely similar while the books office of asa dulcis Button has the mental age of 80 at the end of his life, the movies version gives gum benjamin the mindset of an infant trapped in an 80 year nonagenarian body.FilmThe story starts at the twenty- iv hours when Hurri beare Katrina hits New Orleans. At this very day Dai sy Williams is waiting in a New Orleans infirmary on her deathbed for her end to come. There with her is her girlfriend Caroline, who stands by her and reads to her mum out loud of a diary wedded to her by a man called genus Benzoin. His m some new(prenominal) died by giving vagabond to him. Now the difference to all the other pertlyborn babies is that he was gray and wrinkled. Thomas Button, his sustain, horrified of his give-and-take leaves him on the doorsteps of an senile care-home. Where Queenie a bootleg NANNA? Takes him in and treats him same(p) her give birth son. benjamin fits in well even though of his young age he looks as anetime(a) as most of the residents. Soon Benjamin realizes that he is somatogeneticly festering younger not older. SZENE . Early in his life, he meets Daisy, the woman of his life which he first meets when shes a young child. Both lives go antithetical ways and sometimes their paths even cross each other. Until they in the end can manage to wreak a life to crapher, which however because of there varied fates isnt of a long duration. (QUELLE)BookBenjamin Button was born in 1860 in a hospital in Baltimore. But not as a blow, he had the mind and style of an old man in his 80s. Mr Roger Button, Benjamins father, is member of a eminently respectcapable family and the president of Roger Button Co., sweeping Hardware. Because of his high cordial status he has difficulties accepting his son for who he was. He tries to build up the illusion that his son is in no aspect diverse from some(prenominal) other soulfulness. The times association cared a lot for conformity and whence had very little tolerance for this uneven case of Benjamin Button. Benjamin comfort lives a very generous live bonny in a different kind of way. He ages subscribewards at the alike rate as everybody else is get older. In 1880 Benjamin Button is twenty years old ( merely appears approximately 50) and meets and locomote in love with Hildergarde the beautiful fille of General Moncrief. Hildegarde turns out to be attracted to older men and six month ulterior once once once morest all moralistic standards because of their great age difference the get married and even have a son called Roscoe.While Benjamin is get younger Hildegarde is getting older, and he curtly looses interest in her He wondered what possible bewitchment she had ever exercised all over him.(p.37) Benjamin goes off to fight in the Spanish American War, as he returns home he appears closely the same age as his own son, Roscoe. Growing younger everyday he attends Harvard University at the age of 18. After Benjamin graduates he is young liberal to go to prep school, until he ends up beeing playmates with Roscoes son. Without being able to forbear the reversed ageing process he goes to kindergarden until he finally is even too young for that. As he grows younger and younger he looses the memory of his entire past life until ..it was all dark(p.52)While the plotline is a complete different one when comparing book and film, there are however obstacles Benjamin Button has to overcome during his lifetime. In the book in the first situation because of the nonacceptance of society and in the movie because ofII b mavin main theme in the book is how a new born cosset, physically and mentally in his 80s, is accepted into society. In the short story, which plays in 1860(first few lines), Benjamin is born in the hospital and right from the set out one can see how Benjamin is considered to be beneath mixer standards of that time. When Mr Button arrives at the hospital, the doctor even worries about his own study Do you imagine a case like this will wait on my professional reputation?One more would ruin meruin some(prenominal)body. (Page 4). Mr Button palliate unsuspecting of what happened has to realize, that the doctor who brought himself into the world and had been the familys physician for over 40 years, ha s no interest in seeing any of the Buttons ever again as he tallys clear by saying Im through with you I dont want to see you or any of your relatives ever again bye (Page 4)It is not only the doctor who is upset and hostile. It seems like the whole hospital is worried because of this unusual event..The hospital will never regain its unflawed reputation after-(Page 6) complaint the nurse seconds onwards she showed Mr Button the way to his new born child.The fact that his new born baby actually is an old man outrages Mr. Button to a degree, that he even calls his own son an imposter and lier (page 8). This shows very well how the society back then reacts to phenomenons which do not fit their norms and believes.From this irregular on, Roger Button does everything in his power to menace Benjamin appropriate to his age. He wants to keep the old age of Benjamin a secret and even takes further what the best solution would be to do so.If, say, he could only find a very rotund boys suit, he might cut off that long and awful beard, colour the white pig brown, and thus manage to conceal the worst, and to retain something of his own self-respect not to mention his position in Baltimore society .Roger Button is determined to keep his illusion animate and deny the obvious which is do very clear by the following haggle Benjamin was a baby, and a baby he should remain(page 15)What the mishap would have cost the Buttons and their household socially cannot be determined (page 17) But the citys attention is very soon drawn onto other things the outbreak of the Civil War.By the age of twelve Benjamins parents got used to him and even felt that he was not any different from other children. This was the time when Benjamin was not troubled by society because of his appearance.Later in the book though he has once again troubles to find his place in society. This occurs when Benjamin Button who just passported his grab examination to Yale college is called into the Yale registrars office to receive his schedule. Benjamin cant die his hair before he enters the office and therefore cant hide his cured appearance. The registrar first theory hed be talking to Mr Roger Button. As Benjamin do is case clear and insists on his age of eighteen, once again Benjamin meets with his nemesis he has to deal with since his birth.The idea the registrar shouted. A man of your agetrying to enter here as a freshman. Eighteen years old, are you? Well,Ill give you eighteen minutes to get out of town. (Page 23)Being unable to gain a proper procreation at college because of the social inacceptance of his case he starts working for his fathers company Roger Button Co. During this time, Benjamin likewise starts to mingle with society and meets the daughter of General Moncrief, HildegardeIt whom he marries 6 months later. The story of Benjamins birth is being remembered again but many stories were made up such as Benjamin was really the father of Roger Button, t hat he was his brother who had been in prison for forty years(page 31) Therefore the real story is forgotten or just so unbelievable that nil believes it, not even his own wife.Many years Benjamin is able to life a happy life without having to worry about his physical aging process which makes him appear younger by the day, until he comes back from the Civil War to his wife and has to face that his ever younger appearance drives his wife nuts, she honestly believes its his way of annoying her and she is in the illusion that he could stop his aging process any time he wants.But, Hildegarde, I cant help it.You can too. Youre simply stubborn. You think you dont want to be like any one else. (page 37)After that point, the gab between them begins to widen. Benjamin keeps getting younger until he is a young boy. He receives a letter from the army asking him, since he served as an officer with a higher rank during the Spanish-American War to go back into service. He sees this as an opport unity to go back in time and do the traffic he once enjoyed so much. Again society does not accept with his intentions. He arrives at the headquarters where he is turned down and move home considered a little boy who wanted to play soldier.This in any case is the last conflict concerning the aspect of society and Benjams process of becoming younger. From that moment on Benjamin continues living his life backward going back to kindergarden then under a nannys custody getting younger and younger until hes finally gone.The skit of Benjamin Button is that the need for social self-preservation plays such a big role,that it blinds everyone from seeing Benjamins fate for what it is, and for accepting him for the person he is. Fitzgerald criticizes the community of the upper class whos reputation mainly is secured throughout conformity and their status is determend by their wealth.The social aspect or concerns about someones reputation and how its influencing the book however is almos t hit in the whole movie. In the film, Benjamin appears like a child, but his appearance still is so shocking to Mr. Button (PHOTO) that he grabs the baby wanting to get rid of him. It seems like he even attempts to throw the little baby into the river. (957) The appearance of a police officer lucre that thought and he leaves Benjamin with 18 Dollars on the steps leading(a) to a New Orleans boardinghouse for the elderly , the Nolan House (QUELLE), where Queenie, takes him in and raises him like he was her own child, hes accepted right away. There is no hint in the movie that Mr Button gave his son away for any other reason than his outer appearance .Mr ButtonI thought you were a monster (14323)cIn the movie, Benjamin Button has to overcome several obstacles linked to his reversed aging process such as witnessing people constantly dying in front of his eye during his earlier time in the Nolan House, where death was a common visitor. (2503) When Benjamin talks about his process abo ut getting younger with one of the residents living in the Nolan House. Its made pretty clear by the words of the resident what heavy burden he has to carry upon his shoulders. Well I feel sorry for you, you have to see everybody you love die before you do, its an aweful responsibility(5247).In the movie theres a love story which helps to understand what it subject matter to live a life backwards like Benjamin does. He meets Daisy who is the grandchild of Miss Fall and sometimes comes to visit her over the weekends at the Nolan House. Benjamin falls in love with Daisy from the first time he aphorism her (3647) But her being only 10 and him physically in his 70s and the mentally young age of both makes a romance impossible at least for this moment. It turns out to be a love story which develops slowly, over the course of many decades. At the age of 17, Benjamin goes on a long intense trip on a tugboat. Even though Daisy and Benjamin write each other constantly, many years pass un til they meet each other again in the Nolan House in 1945 when Benjamin is 26 years old. Even though Daisy makes strong suggestions to catch some Zs with Benjamin, he turns her down for the reason that she is to be leaving the next morning. This disaster though is not important for the aspect which is discussed here. Its mentioned here only for the develop understanding of the plotline.However in spring 1962, 19 years later Daisy and Benjamin meet again in New Orleans at the Nolan House where they both fall in love with each other at once.The fact that Daisy is many years older than Benjamin seems to be irrelevant for quite a long time until the reality of his curse pops back into his life. Daisy gets pregnant and Benjamin asks himself the question How can I be a father when Im heading in the other direction? Even though his wife knows the consequences she gives him words of encouragement and insists that they will somehow make it work. But life doesnt always go according to ones wishes, therefore not long after the baby is born Benjamin realizes that his son needs a father and not a playmate. He makes a very tough decision and goes away, leaving his wife and daughter with enough money to live a good life. Giving up the love of his life is probably the biggest obstacle Benjamin has to overcome because of his reversed aging process.SETTINGIII aCharactereIn the short story Benjamin is born as an old man apparently about seventy years of age.(p.7) He has almost white hair and a long smoke-colored beard(p.7) Benjamin starts out with a lot of demanding and complaining. Just born and still in the hospital he announces This is a fine place to keep a youngster of quiet tastes. With all this yelling and howling, I havent been able to get a wink of sleep. I asked for something to eat.(p.9) He also doesnt act anything like a baby. When he is alone he secretely smokes cigares and finds more interest in an encyclopedia than in kids toys.(FOOTNOTE) Instead of performing with children of his age he finds more pleasure in sitting and talking to his grandfather. Benjamin occassionally breaks things on purpose to create the illusion beeing a normal baby just to delighten his father. he only did these thing because they were expected of him, and because he was by nature obliging.(p.18) This is also the reason why he dies his hair and shaves his beard, he tries to please everybody around him even if hes not comfortable with it. Aging backwards for Benjamin means to overcome many obstacles as shown above and still Benjamin always keeps his dignity and never complains about his faith. Benjamin, once he left the hospital, took life as he found it.(p. 17) As Benjamin gets older, or younger for this matter, he turns out to be very healthy and succesfull in what he does. Not only did he graduate from Havard University but also made his fathers company way more profitable due his new ideas. He also becomes an expert in dancing and great in playing golf. During his army time in the Spanish-American War in 1898 he becomes a lieutenant-colonel. He was slightly wounded, and received a medal. Benjamin also becomes more and more attracted by the gay side of life. He was dancing with the prettiest of the young married women, and chatting with the most popular of the dbutantes.1912 though is a turning point in Benjamins life. His glory years seem to be over now- as his physical appearance now is the one of a sixteen year old teenager his mental magnate grows back as well. And therefore his social status is following the same process, he finds himself much alone, except for the companionship of three or four fifteen-year-old boys in the neighborhood. Now at the end of his life he behaves and thinks the way he was supposed to during his early years. He reads little boys stories and for him now playing with little stripes was the most fascinating game in the world.(p.49). He is a little boy now and he was very happy(p.49) Slowely he starts to forg et no token came to him of his brave days at college, of the glisten years when he was flustered the hearts of many girls. And then he remembered nothing.In the movie Benjamin starts his life by looking like a normal baby except for his skin which is heavily wrinkeled, just like the skin of an old person. He cries like any other baby but after a closer examination by the doctor they find out that his health condition is rather in a state which can be found by elderly people than by a newborn child. Details then bookaccommodatingfather In the story Benjamins dad is very present right from the beginning. He is a succesfull man and helds a high position, both social and financial. And therefore is always concered about other peoples opinions of him. He seems to not be very open for things he doesnt understand or he doesnt believe in. Which is shown by his attempt raising his son Benjamin the normal way, which is only made possible through illusions he built for himself to avoid the c onfrontation with the truth. He has a hard time accepting Benjamin as his son until he gets older which is either because of Benjamins trumendous success with the company (It was mainly due him that the family fortune was doubled chpt. 7) or due to the fact that Benjamin finally appears younger than his dad.In the movie however his name is Thomas Button. He also is the head of a successful Button company, but he doesnt seem too concerned about what other people think about him, he even seems like a man without any scruble by abondoning his son just because of his appearance. Later in the movie it accured that Mr Button is sick and his time on earth is very limited. He wants to make up for everything and regrets his mistakes. He tells Benjamin that he was his father and moreover tells him that he should never have abondoned him (13437). Though the apolgy was long overdue and what he did unforgivable this small move still makes him a sympathic character at the end.Mother While in the book the obtain is alive there isnt anything else mentioned about her. In the movie however Benjamins biological mother dies giving birth to Benjamin. At her place steps Queenie, his black foster mother. This character is very strong and independant, its basically her who runs the whole Nolan House with all its elderly residents. Which also shows how responsible and caring she is. Her joyfull acting and her supportiveness towards Benjamin thouroughout the movie makes her a loveable character.