Stubborn ways
Fitzgerald, ''Bernice Bobs Her Hair'' (1920) -- Jerz: American Lit II (EL 267)
There was another silence, while Marjorie considered whether or not convincing her mother was worth the trouble. People over forty can seldom be permanently convinced of anything. At eighteen our convictions are hills from which we look; at forty-five they are caves in which we hide.
I can relate to this sentiment rather well -- the older people get, the more stubborn they become, it seems.
Comments
Jennifer, I see a little bit of tension in these lines, too. It's almost as if the dismissal of "people over forty" comes from Marjorie's thoughts, while the next sentence seems to be Fitzgerald commenting on Marjorie's reaction. At any rate, we see here Marjorie as a strategist, which prepares us for the later revelation that the hair-bobbing was part of an elaborate trap to ruin a rival's social fortunes.
Posted by: Dennis G. Jerz | February 6, 2006 2:05 PM
Being just about between 18 and 45, I read this a little differently. The fact that "people over forty can seldom be permanently convinced of anything" to me means that the older you are the more likely you are to consider more information in your decisions and be willing to sit with ambiguity. However, when Fitzgerald writes that "at forty-five (our convictions) are caves in which we hide" this feels contradictory to my thoughts. Perhaps I'll understand better when I'm 45.
Posted by: Jennifer DiFulvio | February 6, 2006 1:42 PM