Transcending the Ages

In the novella Bernice Bobs Her Hair, F. Scott Fitzgerald creates an elegant and often times entertaining portrait of the roaring twenties through the eyes of three fictitious teenagers who lived them, all the while conveying the full complexity of coming of age in one of the periods in which the generation gap was at its widest.

The plot was riddled with symbolism and allegory, with just about every aspect of the story serving a duel purpose in its greater meaning. The bobbed hair, a fashionable but risky statement for women in this time frame, could have indeed represented the conflict between old fashioned probity and youthful levity, as well as the dwindling morality of the previous generation. In a sense, Bernice and Marjorie are of the old and the new, the traditional and the modern, respectively. Bernice, once as pure and wholesome as virgin snow, is seemingly corrupted by the promiscuous Marjorie, which may symbolize the changing of times and the author’s obvious disdain for this new flapper culture. Consequently, this depravity causes Bernice (or the values of old) to convert to near insanity, severing her cousin’s hair and maybe destroying her family relations as a result. In the end, no one can really claim victory as both wear the repercussions of their divergence from status quo, something which seems to me a subtle yet firm warning from a disapproving author.

Although it is true that the underlying messages in this story are very interesting, what struck me most was the fact that I could so easily relate to a story written almost a century before I was even born. Themes of peer pressure, the need for acceptance, the problems of self image versus public persona, self confidence and integrity that the story is very much concerned with seems to be able to transcend the ages, as they are very much alive and well today. I could easily see both Marjorie and Bernice being girls in one of my classes, and can trace some of their traits to myself.

This is a gift not often found in authors, the ability to create a world with eloquence and incredible detail, characters with depth and realism, and themes and messages that are relevant centuries after it is published. It is these traits that make Fitzgerald an excellent writer, and qualities that make this a timeless and enthralling classic.

I Have A Dream

1) alliteration- repetition of initial consonant sound

Allusion- indirect reference to someone or something

Metaphor- all language that involves figures of speech or symbolism and does not literally represent real things

Simile- a figure of speech that draws a comparison between two different things, especially a phrase containing the word "like" or "as,"

2) “Five score years ago” is an allusion to Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, in which he instead said Four score and seven years ago in reference to the Independence of our nation. It was most likely used because it draws parallels from that speech, in which Lincoln invoked the principles of human equality espoused by the Declaration of Independence and redefined the Civil War as a struggle not merely for the Union, but as "a new birth of freedom" that would bring true equality to all of its citizens; this was the ultimate goal of King’s marches and nearly all of his speeches.

3) One example of allusion, though not exactly indirect, was “and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.” An allusion to the Declaration of Independence was made in the familiar phrase “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

4) An example of alliteration can be found in the line “ We can never be [b]satisfied[/b] as long as our children are [b]stripped[/b] of the [b]self-hood[/b] and robbed of their dignity by [b]signs stating[/b].

5) An example of a metaphor is found in the line “quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality.”

6) Simile- “…and we will not be satisfied until “justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream”

7) This is an example of a metaphor. This would be an incredibly effective method because the memories of black bondage were still fresh in the minds of not only the country, but specifically in the hearts of the grandchildren of slaves. This is also a way of reminding them that segregation is only a step up from slavery, if that, and that they were still held back by the ‘chains’ of Jim Crow.

8) The phrases ‘let freedom ring’ and ‘go back (third page, first paragraph after the picture)

9) For one, the repetition of ’I have a dream’ draws attention to the fact that the idea of racial equality in America was still just, in fact, a highly optimistic dream, far from being realized. Secondly, it was sort of like a call to arms, to motivate and inspire others to make this dream become reality.