Bernice Bobs Her Hair, by F Scott Fitzgerald 1922
Table Of Content
He considered femininebathing an immoral subject, and gave her some of his ideas on thedepravity of modern society. She snapped out the light, and as they started up the stairsBernice grasped the banister thankfully. For the first time inher life she had been danced tired. "I think it's unmoral," affirmed Bernice gravely. "But, ofcourse, you've either got to amuse people or feed 'em or shock'em." Marjorie had culled this from Oscar Wilde.
A Summary and Analysis of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s ‘Bernice Bobs Her Hair’
Apparently, Bernice never believes that she will need to cut her hair; rather, the idea is meant to be a conversation starter and a flirtatious way to ask the opinion of young men. The act is cut short when Marjorie calls out Bernice’s bluff and Bernice is confronted with the limits of her performance. She has taken it as far as she can, and now must deal with Marjorie’s insistence that Bernice has merely been performing for the others. It is a breaking point in their relationship, with Bernice now forced to either make a rash decision or be embarrassed for simply teasing without following through. Bernice leans into the performance and faces its inevitable consequences.
Hair Symbol Timeline in Bernice Bobs Her Hair
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After dark on Saturday night one could stand on the first tee of the golf-course and see the country-club windows as a yellow expanse over a very black and wavy ocean. The waves of this ocean, so to speak, were the heads of many curious caddies, a few of the more ingenious chauffeurs, the golf professional's deaf sister—and there were usually several stray, diffident waves who might have rolled inside had they so desired. As the night goes on, Bernice dances with many young men, spurring the interest of Warren, who begins to see Bernice in a new light. He considers his devotion to Marjorie in light of others’ newly ignited interest in Bernice. Marjorie dismisses Bernice’s concern that she ran out of things to talk about and repeated herself with different men. Marjorie agrees that the evening was successful, and the two say goodnight, with Bernice drifting off to sleep with thoughts of Warren.
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For a tense moment they regarded each other--Marjorie scornful,aloof; Bernice astounded, half-angry, half-afraid. Then two carsdrove up in front of the house and there was a riotous honking.Both of them gasped faintly, turned, and side by side hurriedout. She said she was mightyglad that Warren had at last found some one who appreciated him.So the younger set laughed, too, and guessed that Marjorie didn'tcare and let it go at that.
Social Competition
Long hair is broadly considered a symbol of femininity, and in inherited European tradition it refers specifically to a state of virgin girlhood, as a married woman in medieval Europe would cover or braid her hair. This correlates to Bernice’s childlike naivete at the beginning of the story, as she continues at age 18 to perform the infantilizing role of the “good girl” which her parents’ values instilled in her. She has none of Marjorie’s sexual knowledge, nor does she seek it; on the contrary, she feels bewildered and embarrassed when she is forced to consider such things. When Bernice opens herself up to Marjorie’s worldview, and starts to date boys—which is to say, when the question of her sexual availability enters the conversation between Bernice and her peers—the state of her hair also comes into question.
The Danger of Trusting the Wrong People
Every Saturday night he danced a long arduous duty dance with her to please Marjorie, but he had never been anything but bored in her company. Warren was nineteen and rather pitying with those of his friends who hadn't gone East to college. But, like most boys, he bragged tremendously about the girls of his city when he was away from it.
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Marjorie represents the newer, pitiless breed of women who, by Marjorie’s own acknowledgment, stand in stark contrast to the women of her mother’s generation. Eighteen-year-old Bernice has gone to stay with her cousin Marjorie, at their parents’ suggestion. Marjorie considers her cousin to be boring, and when Bernice is shunned by the boys at a country club dance, she complains to her mother that Bernice is unpopular because she’s so dull.
Gender and Femininity ThemeTracker
As someone who has been previously considered a boring conversationalist, this question is a striking way to start a conversation with a stranger. Charley feels flattered by the attention of a pretty girl and is willing to listen to Bernice. It is revealed that Bernice has practiced this conversation in anticipation of the event.
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When it comes to several dances and the intermissions between she can be quite sure that a young man, once relieved, will never tread on her wayward toes again. Afterwards, Marjorie apologises to Bernice and said she didn’t think she would go through with having her hair bobbed. That night, Bernice packs her bags and leaves, but before she departs she sneaks into Marjorie’s room and cuts off two blonde braids of her cousin’s hair while she’s asleep.
From sixteen-year-old Otis Ormonde, who has two more years at Hill School, to G. But, after all, this critical circle is not close enough to the stage to see the actors' faces and catch the subtler byplay. It can only frown and lean, ask questions and make satisfactory deductions from its set of postulates, such as the one which states that every young man with a large income leads the life of a hunted partridge. It never really appreciates the drama of the shifting, semi-cruel world of adolescence.
The narrator lists and briefly describes several of the people in attendance, ranging in age from mid-teens to early 20s, and finally settles on Warren McIntyre. Warren has known Marjorie Harvey for most of his young life and has a deep and abiding crush on her, even as Marjorie has told him that she does not return his feelings. Marjorie has a cousin, Bernice, who is visiting from Eau Claire, and who is widely considered to be very pretty but profoundly uninteresting. Marjorie asks Warren to dance with Bernice, who has been dancing with the same boy for an hour. Warren agrees, and on his way to do so he encounters Otis Ormonde, who has been Bernice’s dance partner for the evening and is waiting for her to return from the restroom. He holds a stick, with which, he jokes, he is going to knock Bernice back into the bathroom when she comes out.
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