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Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work.

The Danger of Trusting the Wrong People

Bernice is a guest in Marjorie’s home, and she is treated as an accessory to her cousin when she makes the rounds of Marjorie’s social scene. Bernice is in an untenable position, stuck between having to attend parties and being incapable of presenting herself in a flattering way. When she hands herself over to Marjorie for a social makeover, she has to trust Marjorie’s knowledge of social behavior and trends, because Bernice does not. 

The decision to trust Marjorie is one fraught with danger, especially after Marjorie’s willingness to badmouth Bernice to her mother and then her unwillingness to apologize for the hurt it caused Bernice. Marjorie is not safe. But because Bernice wants, to some degree, to join Marjorie’s circle, she must put her trust in Marjorie to tell her how to change and perform the part of an acceptable society girl. The advice and knowledge that Marjorie is willing to share with Bernice will always come with a cost. Marjorie will not allow Bernice’s newfound knowledge to overshadow her, and if Bernice’s standing threatens hers, Marjorie has built a trapdoor that will drop out from under Bernice, lowering her back in her place. Because Bernice is in a rather fragile situation, she wants to trust Marjorie, but the story makes it clear that Bernice has no other options. 

The Tenuousness of Social Performance

Bernice finds herself willing to act in the role that Marjorie creates. By following Marjorie’s advice, Bernice can entertain others at parties, entice young men to dance, and participate in table conversations. But Bernice is not as seasoned or skilled at performance as Marjorie is, and mimicking her can only go so far. It is unclear whether Marjorie ever thinks that cutting Bernice’s hair is a good idea, or whether the threat of the bob is simply an interesting idea that Bernice can use to drive conversation. 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. 

The Pitfalls of Relying on Others’ Evaluation of Your Worth

Bernice can feel that she is disappointing both her cousin and herself. She knows that she does not have the social wherewithal to survive Marjorie’s party scene, and even casts judgment on its young attendees. Rather than removing herself from Marjorie’s world, however, Bernice decides to stick with it, relying on Marjorie to mold her into a socially successful woman. When Marjorie criticizes her, Bernice internalizes the disdain and uses it as a benchmark for herself within the social circle. As this society dictates, she sees her worth as measured by the amount of young men that want to dance with her, and with whom she can carry on a lengthy conversation, no matter how meaningless. She is thrilled to be asked out by a boy who previously only had eyes for her cousin, and to be a mysterious and potentially reckless girl who might cut her hair scandalously short. 

When she is forced to reckon with the ways in which she has built a persona from pieces of Marjorie, as well as the fallout from her decision to actually cut her hair, Bernice finally understands that she cannot succeed in this world. Only then is she finally able to see a way out. In a gesture of defiance, she takes a measure of vengeance against Marjorie by cutting her braids, reclaiming some semblance of self-assuredness and boosting her own worth.

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