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Similes
Chapter 8
Explanation and Analysis:
Fitzgerald’s writing style in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” is lyrical and descriptive. He does not employ the minimalist style popular amongst his Modernist contemporaries, instead including long, flowing sentences, as seen in the following passage:
Never a party of any kind in the city of Baltimore but he was there, dancing with the prettiest of the young married women, chatting with the most popular of the débutantes, and finding their company charming, while his wife, a dowager of evil omen, sat among the chaperons, now in haughty disapproval, and now following him with solemn, puzzled, and reproachful eyes.
This passage—with all of its commas and clauses—is an example of a compound-complex sentence. Despite the fact that Fitzgerald is communicating so much in a single sentence, it does not read as bulky or overwrought. In a single sentence, Fitzgerald skillfully moves from a joyful scene of Benjamin “dancing with the prettiest of the young married women,” chatting with the young women, and “finding their company charming,” to an image of Hildegarde sitting “with haughty disapproval” and “solemn, puzzled, and reproachful eyes.”
It's worth noting that, while the narrator primarily presents as third-person omniscient—knowing and reporting on the external and internal experiences of the characters (usually Benjamin)—there is one moment at the beginning of the story when the narrator uses the first person, stating, “I shall tell you what occurred, and let you judge for yourself.” Starting the story this way helps prepare readers for the unusual and scandalous element in the story (Benjamin’s reverse aging condition).
Related Themes:
