When Benjamin returns from the war, Hildegarde, annoyed with his increasingly youthful appearance, says, "You're simply stubborn. You think you don't want to be like anyone else....But just think how it would be if everyone else looked at things as you do

Oooh this one was a toughie. Took me 20 minutes to digest it. ( Good comprehension practice for my English Exam excerisce)

Correct me if you disagree with me but ......

The attitudes of Hildegarde and Roscoe towards Benjamin's reverse aging in F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" reflect societal expectations about aging and conformity. Their insistence that Benjamin should conform to traditional aging norms highlights several layers of irony and critique of social values:

1. Hildegarde's Annoyance:

   • Significance: Hildegarde's frustration with Benjamin's youthful appearance signifies her adherence to societal norms. She values the conventional life cycle where individuals age progressively and views Benjamin's condition as a stubborn refusal to conform. Her perspective underscores the importance society places on normalcy and the discomfort with deviation.
   • Irony: It is ironic that Hildegarde believes Benjamin should control his aging because aging is typically seen as an uncontrollable, natural process. Her attitude implies that Benjamin has a choice in the matter, which he does not, making her expectations unrealistic and highlighting the absurdity of trying to impose societal norms on natural phenomena.

2. Roscoe's Disapproval:

   • Significance: Roscoe's view that Benjamin's refusal to look sixty is unmanly and perverse shows a rigid adherence to traditional masculinity and societal expectations. He believes that aging gracefully and naturally is a mark of a 'red-blooded he-man,' and anything deviating from this norm is unacceptable.
   • Irony: Roscoe’s belief that Benjamin should look and act his age is ironic because, like Hildegarde, he fails to recognize that Benjamin's condition is beyond his control. Roscoe's disappointment in his father's appearance reflects an irony where the child becomes the parent, expecting the elder to adhere to conventional roles and appearances, which Benjamin cannot do.

3. Reverse Aging and the Midlife Crisis:

   • Irony in Reverse Aging: Benjamin’s reverse aging parallels the modern concept of a midlife crisis, where individuals in middle age seek to recapture their youth. This is typically seen in behaviors like changing appearance, pursuing new relationships, or taking up youthful activities. The irony is that while people undergoing a midlife crisis attempt to reverse the aging process through superficial means, Benjamin naturally becomes younger without any such effort.
   • Mirror to Midlife Crisis: Benjamin’s condition satirizes the midlife crisis by taking the desire to become younger to a literal extreme. Instead of seeking external validation or making drastic life changes to feel young, Benjamin's physical regression happens without his control, emphasizing the futility and superficiality of attempting to manipulate one’s age.

In summary, Hildegarde and Roscoe's attitudes toward Benjamin’s aging are significant as they reveal societal pressures to conform to traditional life cycles and appearances. The irony lies in their unrealistic expectations that Benjamin can control his aging process and their discomfort with his natural, albeit unusual, condition. This situation serves as a critique of societal norms and highlights the absurdity of midlife crises, where the desire to reclaim youth is both a natural longing and a socially constructed phenomenon.