How Did Bernice Bobs Her Hair Affect The Great Gatsby

Oliver Engelke Mrs Jones AP Literature 04-30-2024.

The Life, Love, and Societal Commentary of F. Scott Fitzgerald and His Works F. Scott Fitzgerald is one of the most influential authors of the 20th century with his work in the Jazz Age. His life had many personal setbacks and emotional tragedies that influenced his work. He used his time in war and marriage with Zelda Fitzgerald to inspire the themes of his novels. Taking morals from his life and connecting with the greater world around him made his work timeless. The Great Gatsby, “Bernice Bobs Her Hair”, and The Beautiful and The Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald mirror his own life, relationships, and the societal disparity around him and the depressing reality of the propagated American Dream.

Fitzgerald had written that she shouldn’t amuse the people around her but instead shock them by being herself and not following the standards society had laid out. The character, Bernice, showed his criticisms of the way his sister had wanted to change society's standards. “At eighteen our convictions are hills from which we look; at forty-five they are caves in which we hide” (“Bernice Bobs Her Hair” 588). Bernice’s revelation of the standards she was forced into at a young age affects the rest of her life, like Fitzgerald’s sister choosing to just be herself and being happy with it. “I shall go on shining as a brilliantly meaningless figure in a meaningless world”(The Beautiful and The Damned 274). Fitzgerald supported his sister thoroughly through her major life changes, even when he was far away in Europe. His sister later recounted how the letters had gotten her through a period of her life when she had low self-esteem and issues fitting in. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s work “Bernice Bobs Her Hair” mirrors the letters Fitzgerald wrote to his sister to not give into societal pressure and be herself. The Beautiful and The Damned commentates on F.

Fitzgerald and Zelda, despite being extremely unhappy and depressed with each other, still stayed together. In his death bed, Fitzgerald echoed the line by wishing he had only kissed Zelda and never married her. Fitzgerald felt he had ruined her as a person and in turn had ruined himself, like Anthony had done to Dot. Anthony and Dot’s relationship mirrored Fitzgerald and Zelda’s, with their indulgence and self destruction destroying their relationship and their lives. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s life was full of prosperity and hardship, and he was one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. He explored themes of love, loss, and class disparity in his works. Many elements of his life influenced his work. He was groomed into war and wrote about the horrors and false ideals society had given him. He was married in a loveless relationship and dealt with his wife’s mental problems. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s works The Beautiful and The Damned, “Bernice Bobs Her Hair”, and The Great Gatsby reflect his relationships, life, and the disparity of the American Dream. Overall, Fitzgerald’s works significantly