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Born at age 70
"Wrapped in a voluminous white blanket, and partially crammed into on of the cribs, there sat an old man apparently about seventy years of age... He looked up at Mr. Button with dim, faded eye in which lurked a puzzled question (62)." After seeing his son for the first time, he thinks it is a joke, however his new born son does actually have the appreance and mental compasity of a seventy year old man. -
Benjamins First Toy
"One day he brought home a rattle and, giving it to Benjamin, insited in no uncertain term that he should 'play with it' (66)." Mr. Button trys very hard to concel his sons age and make him live the life of any other toddler. -
First day of school
"When he was five he was sent to kindergarten, where he was initaited into the art of pasting greem paper on orange paper, of weaving colored maps and manufacturing eternal cardboard necklaces (68)." Benjamin was sent to kindergarten and he had to the tasks of other kids his age. He hated it there and would fall asleep during art projects, and so his teacher complained to his parents and he did not return. -
Benjamins 1st suit of trousers
"Finally a compromise was reached Benjamin was to continue to dye his hair. He was to make a better attempt to play with boys of his own age. He was not to wear a better attempt to play with boys of his own age. He was not to wear his spectacles or carry a cane in the street. In returned for these concessions he was allowed his first suit of long trousers (69)." Benjamin convinces his father he is tall enough to get his first pair of pants, and his father agrees as long as he starts to act young -
Benjamin is accepted into Yale College
"When Benjamin was eighteen he was erect as a man of fifty... So his father sent him up to Connecticut to take his examinations for entrance to Yale College. Benjamin passed his examination and became a member of the freshman class. (69)" Benjamin Button is accepted into Yale College, much to the enjoyment of his father. Since before he was born, Mr. Button wanted his son to attend Yale College. -
Benjamin is expelled from Yale College
After the college administrators see how old Benjamin looks they no longer want him at the college. " The registrar pointed sternly to the door. 'Get out,' he said. 'Get out of college and get out of town. You are a dangerous lunatic.' (70)." -
Benjamin meets Hildegrade Moncrief
" Rodger Button leaned over to his sun. 'That,' he said 'is young Hildegarde Moncrief, the daughter or General Moncrief (72.)" From the moment Benjamin sees Hildegrade, he falls in love with her. She is one of the most beautiful women in the town, and Benjamin like all the young men falls in love with her. -
Benjamin and Hildegrade get engaged
" When, six months later, the engagement of Miss Hildegrade Moncrief to Mr. Benjamin Button was made know..., the excitment in Baltimore society reached a feverish pitch (73)." The two get married after six months of knowing each other, both having fallen in love with the other person. -
Benjamin becomes successful
"In the fifteen years between Benjamin Button's marriage in 1880 and his fathers retirement in 1895, the family fortune was doubled--and this was due largely to the younger member of the firm (74)." Once Benjamin becomes succesful everyone accepts him for who he is, and they accept him into society more than they had before. -
Benjamin joins the army
"At the outbreak of the Spanish-American war in 1898 his home had for him so little charm that he decided to join the army (75.)" Benjamin is growing younger, he wants to try out all the things other 19-year-olds do, and live the life of a younger man and not be tied down because of his family. -
Benjamin joins the army again
" Saying nothing to Roscoe, he left the house one night and prcoeeded by train to Camp Mosby, in South Carolina, where he was to command an infantry brigade (80)." Benjamin is growing younger still, and once again joins the army. However this time, he joins at a much higher rank. -
Benjamin Button goes to Havard University in Cambridge
"One September day in 1910... a man, apparently, about twenty years old, entered himself as a freshman at Harvard University in Cambridge (78)," After being kicked out of Yale, Benjamin really wants to show what he is made of. -
Benjamin becomes the football star
"... His success was largely due to the fact that in the football game with Yale he played so brilliantly...(78)" To get back at Yale Benjamin becomes the star football player in his freshman year. -
Benjamin goes back to Kindergarten
" Roscoe took them both to kindergarten on the same day and Benjamin found that playng with little strips of colored paper, making mats and chains and curious and beautiful designs, was the most fascinating game in the world (82)" Benjamin goes back to Kindergarten with his grandson, and this time he is amazing his own son for looking so young rather than amazing his father by look to old. This time Benjamin fits in perfectly with the other kids and the games. -
Benjamin dies
Benjamin slowly forgets everything that has happened in his life, everyone he has loved and his children and grandchildren. He forgets his wife, whom he loved, and his war stories. He forgets football and his father, and work. He forgets college, looking back on everything "he did not remember (83)."
