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F. Scott Fitzgerald's Bernice Bobs Her Hair

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Bernice Bobs Her Hair is a short story written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1920, initially published in the Saturday Evening Post in May the same year. The story is based on Fitzgerald letters to his sister. It marked the beginning of Fitzgerald’s writings from lifestyle issues to philosophy in the 1920s lifestyle. During the writing of this story, America was recovering from World War I. Families that had been scattered and communication was through letters. This was a period of assimilation and cultural pluralism, from the story the writer was against this. America culture had many cultures at the time and there were the nationalistic ideas that challenged earlier idea of melting pot theory. During the 1920s US was engrossed in racial and ethnic …show more content…

In the 1920s Native American children were forced into boarding schools where they were forcefully assimilated this is brought out as Bernice has to live away from her parents for some time. By the end of boarding school, the native’s children had changed and a new culture was instilled in them. The idea of Bernice cutting her hair that attracts a spectacle is meant to make her fit. The assimilation era practices where the long red hair of the Indian children was cut as a way of disengaging them from their culture. This shows that the lives of natives were marred with fear.We are introduced to a period where assimilation attracted supporters from the general public and they openly came out to watch and support the federal government. To them the natives had to ‘pay’ a price so as to fully become …show more content…

The 1920s were filled with immigrants and some Americans were against the immigrants as they polluted the way of life in America. Marjorie was not happy when Bernice moved in with them, this is depicted by the way she treats her she felt like her space was invaded (Fitzgerald 26). Groups like the Klu Klux Klan were against assimilation as they viewed the immigrants as outsiders who took their jobs. Some historians like Horace Kallen supported cultural pluralism as this would create a better society. Fitzgerald supports cultural pluralism by portraying the negative side of assimilation to him all immigrants should be treated same as the whites. The solution to peace in the period of assimilation was cultural assimilation and this way the Native Americans would have allowed the white access to their lands and

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