Bernice Bobs Her Hair Analysis

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“Bernice Bobs Her Hair” was one of Fitzgerald’s short stories written in the 1920. It was originally published in the May The Saturday Evening Post and thereafter in his works Flappers and Philosophers. Fitzgerald told this story from a third person point of view to reveal the thoughts and feelings of the characters. The story is set in the 1920’s Jazz Era in the middle of summer with middle to upper class teenagers dancing and flirting on the country club scene. Being social and popular was extremely important to a young lady during this time. Fitzgerald even stated, “No matter how beautiful or brilliant a girl may be, the reputation of not being frequently cut in on makes her position at a dance unfortunate.” These times were every girl for herself. Bernice is from a wealthy family in Eau Claire and she is going to visit her cousin Marjorie Harvey for the summer. Fitzgerald illustrates Bernice, the main character, as being an attractive young lady; however, not so much as Marjorie. Bernice was described as being pretty and having dark hair but a lame-duck. The things she did have going for her were the fact that she was rich, of the wealthiest family in Eau Claire, she had her own car and she could even cook. Bernice gained her popularity at home because of her materialistic status. It is evident that her mother raised her to be a polite, proper and respectable young lady. Furthermore, her downfalls were that she was the bore of a party and a poor conversationalist. She was not blessed with social skills to keep her company interested and therefore most of the young fellows she came in contact with were eager to get away from her. Marjorie, on the other hand, was characterized as a dazzling young lady with a beautiful face and superior social skills. Fitzgerald described Marjorie as having heavy and luxurious long blonde hair. She was
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