Christopher Booker is a scholar who wrote that every story falls into one of seven basic plot structures: Overcoming the Monster, Rags to Riches, the Quest, Voyage and Return, Comedy, Tragedy, and Rebirth. Shmoop explores which of these structures fits this story like Cinderella’s slipper.
Plot Type : None
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" does not fit any of the Booker plots. Booker’s plot breakdowns are based on a stage of anticipation or excitement followed by a sort of nightmare or terror stage. But Benjamin, in his calm acceptance and easy-going nature, maintains a sort of emotional neutrality throughout this story. One might identify his meeting with Hildegarde as a stage of anticipation, and the loss of his love as a nightmare stage. This is reasonable, but "Benjamin Button" doesn’t hinge on Benjamin’s marriage to Hildegarde. It is the story of his entire life, of many ups-and-downs, not of discrete stages we can break up and categorize.