My Feelings for The Story of Benjamin Button: The Harshness of the Society

As I mentioned in the previous post, I have read the story of Benjamin Button and I find it quite a saddening story as Benjamin's 'special' condition makes him unable to fit into the society of the 1860s to the 1930s. I can liken this situation to two stories our class have worked on, Flowers for Algernon and Scarlet Ibis. In both stories, the main character is not able to fit in to the harsh society that rules them as 'special people'. In Flowers for Algernon, the character Charlie Gordon is a mentally-challenged person with an IQ of 68 and because of his mental limitations he cannot fit in. In Scarlet Ibis, the character named Doodle/William Armstrong is physically and slightly mentally challenged. He finds that he cannot just be at least a 'somebody' in others lives but a 'nobody' instead. Similarly, in Baltimore, where Benjamin was born(as an old man), everybody expected to be normal. After Benjamin's birth, his father Roger Button receives a lot of flak and under pressure, treats him the way any normal baby should. Of course, it isn't normal for a 70-year old man with a 70-year old mind to be treated like an newly-born. That was one example on how the 'special' condition of Benjamin Button makes him a 'outsider'. On another occasion, when Benjamin was 55-years old (note that he will have a 15 year old body), Benjamin's son, Roscoe, actually was so ashamed of his 'out-of-the-ordinary' father that he shouted and reprimanded Benjamin. He also demanded Benjamin to call him 'Uncle" as he said he felt weird having a physically-younger person address him as son. At that time, Benjamin was at the verge of tears. For final evidence, Benjamin's father had such low expectations of Benjamin that he actually decided to name him 'Mathusela'.
This is how cruel and mean the society can get. And sometimes it's about pride. I have to admit, even I have succumbed to the act of putting pride ahead of most of what I do. And I think we should all make an effort to make this society open to any kind of person, be it people with mental discapabilities like Charlie Gordon, physically challenged people like Doodle, or simply unusual people like Benjamin. If we can be conscious on our actions and mannerisms, maybe we can become better people with each passing day. So, maybe instead of seeing 'special' people in a negative way, we can get to know them better and realise their inner beauty. That way, the world will be a really nice place. Who doesn't want that?