The Problems With Appearances and Reputations.

In the text The Curious Case of Benjamin Button I see many issues in our society that we find challenging or difficult to overcome. The world today struggles with appearance and reputation and it is so valued that we as individuals will make any type of sacrifice just so that we still look good or appear to be normal in everyone’s eyes.  

Even around Southeastern’s campus, sadly, individuals are so focused on appearance and reputation. This issue can be seen through the way people feel the need to dress themselves up and even act like someone they wish to be just to be accepted. Benjamin Button dealt with many prejudices and even in the end cared very much about his own reputation and image. A few instances include, the father of Benjamin.  He made his son dye his hair so that he would be accepted by his peers.

Also, Benjamin himself divorced with his wife because he was growing younger and she was growing older. Benjamin was so concerned with appearance in his relationship with his wife that in the end it really affected everything. There are many times relationships start merely based on only appearance. When that is the case the relationship is bound to crumble in the end.

 I believe that if the students at Southeastern were to become more focused on God and the reason why they are here studying, we would have a more Christ centered campus that many complain we lack. In the end our own idea of perfect appearance and having to make a good name for ourselves is purely selfishness.

Even in the Bible people are continuously dealing with keeping a good name for themselves. We know that Sodom and Gomorra have a bad reputation and people constantly comparing other cities and people against that as some type of rubric. As well, individuals in the Bible cared about reputations and appearance in that women who committed adultery were looked at with shame, of course, and everything they owned or whoever they were related to was caught up in a generalization of how terrible she was for that sin.

 I truly think that seeing this issue in this short story challenges me because it helps me sit back and keep myself in check to see beyond appearance and reputation and give people chances.