The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

443 Words2 Pages
In F. Scott Fitzgerald's, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, the concept of belonging is represented as a fundamental part of life. This notion is then elaborated as it is satirically expresses that one will never fully feel a sense of belonging or feel content due to its society and class. Fitzgerald's employment of peripheral narration and allegorical implications, further develops the concept ideas of acceptance and belonging. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button portrays the necessity of belonging as an imperative of life. One must have a sense of inclusion within their community to feel a degree of security. If this very necessity is neglected, fear and anxieties will continue to dictate ones life until a sense of peace is acquired. Fitzgerald uses objects like hair dye, glasses and fake whiskers as allegorical implications to portray this idea of belonging. The hair dye represent Benjamin's fathers desperate attempts conceal his unique case of ageing backwards. Ironically later, when Benjamin appears to be a child, his son Roscoe instructs him to wear fake eyeglasses and a beard. The narrator states that 'even with this improvement, the ensemble fell far from perfection,' and suggests that some will go to the extent of reaching perfection for acceptance. The audience is reminded that even drastic measure will be taken to feel accepted within their society. Fitzgerald furthers his ideas on belonging by expressing that the environment that one lives in will ostracise and deny their sense of belonging. If an individual is different to the normality in any way, society will always find ways to critically demoralise so that they may conform. Fitzgerald challenges this preconceived notion of society through the use of peripheral narration. Peripheral narration allows the author to convey attitudes, interpretations and irony which may not be suitable to any
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