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“When his grandfather’s initial antagonism wore off, Benjamin and that gentleman took enormous pleasure in one another’s company. They would sit for hours, these two, so far apart in age and experience, and, like old cronies, discuss with tireless monotony the slow events of the day.”

This quote comes after the initial sequence of events, when Benjamin has managed to settle in somewhat to home life. It hints not only at Benjamin’s loneliness and need for belonging but at his grandfather’s as well. Because of Benjamin’s strange condition, his grandfather discovers that he has a new peer and friend. This moment also foreshadows a pattern for the rest of the story: Benjamin will find belonging and contentedness for short periods of time until he grows too young and must move on.

“And if old Roger Button, now sixty-five years old, had failed at first to give a proper welcome to his son he atoned at last by bestowing on him what amounted to adulation.

And here we come to an unpleasant subject which it will be well to pass over as quickly as possible. There was only one thing that worried Benjamin Button; his wife had ceased to attract him.”

This quote occurs in Part 7 and marks a turning point for Benjamin. In one respect, Benjamin has finally found belonging with his family. He has become an important contributor to the family business, and he is now young enough for his father to treat him as a son he is proud of. On the other hand, Benjamin has discovered that his de-growth is causing him and his wife to drift apart. Again, Benjamin’s condition limits his ability to hold on to any sense of belonging.

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