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Chapter 5
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Age, Development, and Identity
Reputation, Gossip, and Scandal
Expectations and Acceptance
Support and Caretaking
Summary
Analysis
Benjamin and Hildegarde announce their engagement six months later, much to the dismay of Hildegarde’s father, General Moncrief, who disapproves of the union. Everyone in Baltimore talks about the upcoming marriage, as people recall the story of Benjamin’s birth and circulate exaggerated versions of the tale. People say that Benjamin is actually Mr. Button’s father, or that he’s Mr. Button’s brother who has been imprisoned for 40 years, or that he’s really John Wilkes Booth in disguise. There’s even a rumor that he has horns poking out of his head.
Benjamin has been alive for 20 years, but it isn’t until he marries into one of the most widely respected families in Baltimore that gossip about his condition really starts to circulate. Of course, people talked about him when he was born, but the Civil War drew attention away from the matter. Now, though, gossip runs wild, as people get so carried away that they not only suggest Benjamin could be a monster but also that he could be John Wilkes Booth, the man who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln. These far-fetched stories show how much people like to stretch the truth. Even though the real story of Benjamin’s birth is quite interesting as it is, everyone is apparently hungry for an even crazier story, demonstrating society’s appetite for scandal and drama.
Themes
The newspapers run disparaging drawings of Benjamin, depicting him with the body of a fish or snake. With all these stories going around about him, hardly anyone ever talks accurately about his condition, and Hildegarde even manages to convince herself that the true version of Benjamin’s story is untrue. To dissuade her from committing to the marriage, her father reminds her that 50-year-old men are closer to death and points out that the hardware business is unstable. All the same, Hildegarde wants to marry Benjamin for his “mellowness,” so she goes through with the engagement.
The gossip about Benjamin has an unexpected effect on his relationship with Hildegarde, since it essentially makes it possible for Hildegarde to completely ignore the reality of Benjamin’s condition. This, it seems, is an act of self-delusion, as Hildegarde chooses to disregard the real story of Benjamin’s birth so that she can keep thinking of him the way she wants. In other words, the reason she refuses to believe that he’s 20 is that she likes the idea of marrying a dignified older man. And though this might work out well for Benjamin in the short term, it’s not a very solid foundation on which to begin their marriage, since someday it will be impossible for Benjamin to live up to Hildegarde’s image of him as an older man.
Themes
