Francis Scott Fitzgerald’s short story The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (1922) and David Fincher’s film of the same title (2008) tell the curious story of a man who is born old and ages backwards until his death as an infant. Fitzgerald and Fincher use different themes and techniques to tell their version of the story meaning the outcome is completely different. Fincher’s version includes a slightly different narrative and includes an important character in Daisy. Whilst the stories of the two texts are similar, they have a couple of significant differences. Both Fitzgerald and Fincher use different narrative voices to tell the story of Benjamin Button, thus making the audience response completely different. Fitzgerald uses first person narration to the reader what occurred in the story of Benjamin Button but allows the audience “judge for yourself” (pg.1) that unfold throughout the story. The story is told chronologically whilst keeping the reader emotionally detached from Benjamin and his family. Similarly, Fincher tells the story in first person through flashbacks of diary entries being read to Daisy in the …show more content…
Fitzgerald’s version of the story is set in “anti-bellum Baltimore” (pg.1). Fitzgerald’s version is aimed at people in that era particularly upper class people. His story is written to show the upper class nature of people in the era and how they are more worried about their reputation than far more important things, such as their children in the case of Benjamin Button. Benjamin’s family are of an upper class nature and were instantly worried about their reputation with Benjamin’s father quickly wondering “what will people say” (Pg.4). Contrastingly, Fincher’s version of the story is based in more modern day setting and is appealing to most audiences. Fincher’s proves that age doesn’t matter and life is what you make of it. “Life can only be understood backward. It must be lived
In Scott Fitzgerald’s book version of The Great Gatsby, we can find many differences within the characterizations. Gatsby is portrayed differently in the book than in the movie. For example, in the book, Gatsby was frightened and aware of the fact that Daisy would never be his. In the book he was worried saying, “No telephone message arrived…” This quote shows how he seemed anxious from not hearing from Daisy. In the quote, “Gatsby
Since American literature’s emergence, the American dream has become a conceptual ideal for many people throughout history. Although the dream has its own distinct aspects throughout different time periods, it predominantly focuses on the foundations of wealth, success and a desire for something greater. In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s fiction novel, The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby, the protagonist, is primarily known for the numerous lavish parties he throws each weekend at his ostentatious mansion in West Egg in an attempt to reunite with Daisy Buchanan, a woman he falls in love with prior to entering the war before the Roaring Twenties. However, he is seized with an impotent realization on the fact that his wealth cannot afford him the same privileges as others that are born into the upper echelon. Gatsby is completely blinded from his opulent possessions until he becomes oblivious of the fact that money cannot buy love or happiness. Throughout the story, the predilection for materialistic features causes many characters to lose sight of their aspirations, demonstrating how a dream can become easily corrupt by one’s focus on acquiring wealth and power.
As Benjamin transition out of adolescent, he constantly struggles with the decision regarding his future and to find the best way of becoming a man. Ironically, it is his relationship with Mrs. Robinson that helps Benjamin transformation
Ideally, a novel and its film version complement each other, which, on many levels, is the case with To Kill a Mockingbird. However, film can accomplish things that novels can't, and vice versa. Likewise, film has limitations that a novel doesn't. This essay explores some of the differences between To Kill a Mockingbird, the film and the novel.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald tells the tragic story of two star-crossed lovers. Fitzgerald uses the Roaring Twenties as the setting of this novel. The twenties were a time of promiscuity, new money, and a significant amount of illegal alcohol. Fitzgerald was a master of his craft and there was often more to the story than just the basic plot. He could intertwine political messages and a gripping story flawlessly. In the case of The Great Gatsby, he not only chronicles a love story, but also uses the opportunity to express his opinion on topics such as moral decay, crass materialism, individual ethics, and the American dream.
The 19th Amendment finally granted women the right to vote which gave women a sense of freedom, ideal and essence to do as they pleased. Zelda, Fitzgerald's wife, was a flapper herself. Zelda proved through many writings that she was never a shy, timid and quiet woman, she had confidence in herself and had no moral principles. Zelda encapsulates and represents one of the many social changes that World War I brought to this new era. World War I caused social changes that made both writers and people question what was right from wrong. In both The Great Gatsby and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, readers can conclude that the writing is based on the moral issue at the time, whether wealth and personal or physical pleasures surpassed decency. In Fitzgerald’s short story, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button readers can conclude that when he wrote “ The Roger Buttons held an enviable position, both social and financial.” and “My heavens!” he murmured, in an ecstasy of horror. “What will people say? What must I do?” both of these lines clearly state the importance of wealth and mass consumerism during this time period, people constantly worried of what others though because it could hurt their social and financial
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel The Great Gatsby chronicles Jay Gatsby’s ill-fated attempt to recreate a lost love from his past. Through single-minded focus, he transforms himself from penniless James Gatz of Minnesota to the wealthy and mysterious Jay Gatsby of West Egg, New York. Despite the fact that Daisy Buchanan, Gatsby’s lost lover, has come to terms with their separation, Gatsby maintains his firm belief in the notion of rebirth, convinced he can recreate the past. Furthermore, the novel serves as Fitzgerald’s personal introspection, voicing his own desire for renewal in the search for his identity. Therefore, a central theme in the novel is rebirth, exemplified by the actions and motivations of Gatsby and Fitzgerald’s examination of his own life.
In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Beautiful and Damned, the main character of Gloria, Anthony’s wife, and Dot, Anthony’s mistress represents Fitzgerald 's wife, Zelda. The way that Anthony meets Dot, as well as the personalities and the lives of these women are very similar to Zelda Fitzgerald. Gloria is the sophisticated city girl, while Dot is the simplistic country girl sides of his wife. Gloria can be also classified as the wild public version, while Dot is the troubled private version.
When directors choose to adapt a novel or short story to fit the silverscreen, they often face the arduous task of keeping the author’s original plot in tow as well as, putting forth a believable product. In the case of Scotts Fitzgerald’s short story, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, director, David Fincher and screenwriter, Eric Roth chose to scrap the original framework of the story and start anew. Although Fincher and Roth keeps the basic idea of Benjamin Button’s existence the same, their screen adaption tells a more sincere version of how it would feel to live life in reverse. However, both the director and screenwriter acknowledge that Benjamin’s tale cannot be told without giving the audience an explanation for why he is born
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button written by Eric Roth and based on a short novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a story of an interesting man who lives his life backwards. The movie takes place in New Orleans during hurricane Katrina and is told in a flashback perspective from the love of Benjamin’s life, Daisy and their daughter, Caroline. I have heard many times throughout my life and nursing career, including from myself, “If I could only go back and know what I know now.” Benjamin Button lived this theory, a theory that seems very similar to the Gerotranscedence theory. Scheidt (2017) states in regards to his own aging “I am dealing with the messages of friends and strangers who make me aware almost daily – most often in a
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” written by Eric Roth and based on a short novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a story of an interesting man who lives his life backwards. The movie takes place in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina and is told in a flashback perspective from the love of Benjamin’s life, Daisy and their daughter, Caroline. I heard many times throughout my life and nursing career, including from myself, “If I could only go back and know what I know now.” Benjamin Button lived this theory, a theory that seems very similar to the Gerotranscedence theory (Touhy & Jett, 2016, p. 37). Scheidt (2017) states in regards to his own aging “I am dealing with
Now in the literary story Benjamin has a grandfather who at the start was antagonized, became to enjoy his grandson’s company. It is a brief account of his grandfather but a meaningful one as this was the first one who gave him a sense of acceptance. The film version gave him acceptance through Queenie and we never get to know a grandfather; though one could say the patrons at the old folk’s home could have been grandparent surrogates for Benjamin. The patrons at the old folks home taught him many things but his experience living there taught him not to fear death and what loss was about which, in a sense, desensitized the character so that when Queenie passes he is not visibly upset.
The short story, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”, written in 1922 by author F. Scott Fitzgerald, does a very good job at showing its audience, the genius loci of Baltimore, Maryland without utilizing many physical descriptions pertaining to the setting. The text instead focuses on social and personal factors that shape a community in order to create the persona behind genius loci.
Identity typically changes with age, however he changes very little because he does not have full awareness of his identity. “Age identity refers to the inner most experience of a person’s age and aging process” (Jose 2017). Fitzgerald emphasizes Benjamin’s loss of consciousness more in the novel than Fincher does in the film. At a certain point, Benjamin stops struggling to determine who he is and just essentially waits for time to run out. He would play simply games with his grandson when they are both around the age of children beginning kindergarten. Benjamin and his grandson would continue this until he passed away. In contrast, it seems that Benjamin and his wife fight further to the end in the film, and he passes away with her by his side. The relationship between Benjamin and Daisy was stronger in the film than in the novel. His identity is very important to him in the middle of his life when he wants to go to college and enroll in the war, but towards the end he loses awareness of any self-perception he had built and slips into
Set apart from the parameters of normal human society, Benjamin Button, a man who was born to age backwards, falls in love with a young girl, Daisy, who ages forwards. Benjamin’s story is read aloud to Daisy by Caroline, her daughter, as she lay on her deathbed. In scenes set with peculiar curiosity and subtle fantasy, Benjamin embarks on an unusual journey to grasp the meaning of life and find his own sense of identity. Benjamin and Daisy’s paths cross many times before their unorthodox romance reaches fate and picks up in the middle. As he grows younger and Daisy slows with age, Benjamin discovers the rich futility of love as time causes the two to fall out of sync once again. Although its final plot ends like any other love story, David Fincher’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is arguably the next great cinematic breakthrough with its unique emotional paradoxes, ingenuitive digital effects, and complex subplots. This movie was challenging to evaluate because never before has a film combined subplot ingenuity so seamlessly with the delicate techniques of innovative film making and traditional cinematic endings.