Answer:
1. While Bernice is in the women's dressing room fixing her hair, Otis Ormonde jokes with Warren and his friends about hitting her on the head with a club when she steps out.
2. On her way to talk to her aunt, Bernice overhears Aunt Josephine and Marjorie's conversation about her in which Marjorie insults and complains about Bernice.
3. During breakfast, Bernice complains to Marjorie about her insults and insensitive behavior. On the verge of tears, she then bluffs about returning home.
4. Marjorie, Warren, and the whole crowd watch as the barber chops off Bernice’s long hair, bobbing it in an ugly fashion.
5. Bernice enviously watches as Marjorie tosses her own blond hair in front of the mirror and begins to twist it into two long braids, looking like a delicate painting of some Saxon princess.
Explanation:
"Bernice Bobs Her Hair" is a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. At the time the story is set, bobbed hair for women was still regarded as immoral by most of society.
Bernice is visiting her aunt, uncle and cousin, Marjorie. While Marjorie is popular, constantly being cut in on dances and invited out by boys, Bernice is only asked to dance out of pity. She is a bad conversationalist and too rigid on her values, which makes her quite inflexible and boring to the eyes of the young. Otis Ormonde, who has been dancing with her for an hour at a party, even jokes about hitting her on the head with a club to get rid of her.
Later that night, Bernice overhears a conversation between Marjorie and Bernice's aunt about how boring and annoying Bernice is. Feeling insulted, she bluffs about going home the next morning, complaining about the way her cousin treats her. Marjorie does not care, but since Bernice is only bluffing, she helps her with her popularity. Marjorie teaches Bernice how to talk and behave in an attractive way. To draw people's attention, she teaches Bernice to go around saying she'll have her hair bobbed.
Bernice ends up conquering Marjorie's favorite boy, Warren. Even though Marjorie refuses to date him, she loves having him around and knowing he likes her. Mad at Bernice for stealing him, she talks Bernice into a trap in front of their group of friends. She tells everyone Bernice has been lying about getting her hair bobbed.
Pressured by everyone, Bernice ends up having her hair cut short. It doesn't look good, and she regrets it immensely. She also realizes how Marjorie never had her best intentions at heart. As she watches her cousin braid her own blond hair into braids, Bernice comes up with a plan. She waits for Marjorie to fall asleep and then cuts her braids off. She flees back to her home but, on the way to the station, Bernice throws Marjorie's braids onto Warren's porch.
