"Head and Shoulders"

At the age of thirteen, Horace Tarbox takes a text to enter Princeton University, and he is admitted. He receives dozens of academic honors while studying at Princeton, and by the time he is seventeen he is considered the school's greatest scholar. One night, while Horace is studying, he hears a knock on his door. Assuming that it's his laundry, he tells the person to just leave the laundry by the door, but the person states that she's not there to give him his laundry. The girl is actually Marcia, a young actress whom has taken it upon herself to show Horace a different perspective on life. The two of them become close, and Marcia convinces Horace to come watch one of her theater performances. While watching the performance, Horace discovers different emotions and becomes interested in women. As the story goes on, Horace grows an appreciation for other things in life, especially gymnastics. Likewise, Marcia grows an appreciation for literature, and becomes a writer.

To me, this story has a lot to say about expanding one's horizons. It's easy for us to get caught up in doing what we assume we will be doing for the rest of our lives, and we become reluctant to try anything else.  At the same time, it also has a lot to say about sticking to your priorities. Horace becomes caught up in this strange romance with Marcia, and allows himself to wander off from his studies, starting a new hobby of gymnastics. Marcia writes a book, and uses most of her ideas for the book from Horace's life and Horace's views on certain things. If Horace hadn't gotten so caught up in this romance, he may have been able to become a very accomplished scholar. It's interesting to me that this story imply these two opposing themes, and it makes me wonder why Fitzgerald did this.

"The Jelly-Bean"

Jim Powell is introduced as a Jelly-bean in the first sentence of the story. He is a young man born and raised in a town in southern Georgia. While growing up, Jim becomes friends with several boys in the town. Jim's life is drastically changed when he and his friends mature, and start hanging out with girls. Jim feels uncomfortable around girls, so he abandons his friends and dedicates his life to working. Over time, Jim becomes a very skilled mechanic, and a very skilled dice roller. One day, he is approached by his old friend, Clark. Clark invites Jim to a party at the country club, and Jim reluctantly agrees to attend the party. When Clark goes to pick Jim up on the night of the party, they catch up with each other and become close again. Jim doesn't want to dance at the party, so Clark agrees to sit with Jim while he isn't dancing. Once at the party, Jim notices Nancy, a beautiful girl he had grown up with. She is there with a doctor from Savannah. Clark gives Jim his drink to hold, and, out of boredom, Jim goes outside to sit down. He is approached by Nancy, who has just stepped on a piece of gum and is attempting to scrape it off. They start talking, and Jim suggests that they pour gasoline on it. The gum is removed, and they start drinking and talking. They become friendly, but Nancy eventually goes back inside to dance with her date. Near, the end of the party, Nancy, Jim, Clark, and a couple of other friends start to roll dice. Nancy starts to lose, so Jim offers to roll for her a couple of times. Jim wins her all of her money back, and Nancy kisses Jim. Jim is completely infatuated with Nancy. He even yells that he is in love with her when he is alone later. The next day, Clark informs Jim that Nancy left for Savannah that morning to marry the doctor she went to the dance with.

This story definitely took a different turn than I expected. It seemed like the typical underdog story of a young man falling in love, and I would have been completely satisfied with this because the story was well written and entertaining. In the beginning of the story, Fitzgerald tells the story of Jim the "Jelly Bean" as if he were telling it to a friend. This was an interesting way to start off the story, and I thought it was pretty entertaining. I really liked the dialogue exchanges between strange characters like Nancy and Jim. Their first conversation revealed personality traits of each character that would not have been revealed in any other way. The plotline was also pretty interesting, and I think that it had some moral value, but not as much as his other stories.

"The Diamond as Big as the Ritz"

John Unger, a kid from Mississippi, discovers that he is being sent to a boarding school in Boston. The summer before he attends the school, he visits his classmates, only to discover that the majority of them are very wealthy. During John's sophomore year, a kid named Percy moves into John's dorm. Percy is quiet, and only speaks to John. They become close enough that Percy invites John to come visit him in the west over the summer. During the train ride to Percy's home in Montana, Percy brags about his dad's wealth, saying that he is the richest man in the world. John learns that Montana is not surveyed, and it is unknown that Percy's fathser is the wealthiest man in the world. Percy's boasts turn out to be true, and his ancestry dates back to George Washington.. Percy's wealth also comes from his grandfather, whom decided to leave Virginia and go west with his slave to enter the sheep and cattle ranching business. He made his real money when he discovered a mountain mine made out of one giant diamond. Though this discovery would make him the richest man in the world, he discovers that the value of diamonds would decrease drastically if anyone were to discover the mountain. Pecy's grandfather creates a plan to tell his slaves that the South has defeated the North in the Civil War, keeping his slaves for as long as he pleased. He then spends the next few years selling diamonds all over the world. Percy's grandfather is burdened with the responsibility of keeping his mountain hidden, capturing people that see it, and even murdering people that discover it. During his stay in Montana, John falls in love with Percy's sister, Kismine, who tells John that he will be killed before he leaves. Luckily, a man escapes from the prison Percy's grandfather keeps people that see the diamond mountain in, and tells people about Percy's grandfather's secret. Aeroplanes attack the property, and Percy's father attempts to bribe god with the largest diamon in the world, but God refuses. John escapes with Kismine, and Percy stays with his mother to blow up the mountain, letting their lives be taken by the attackers.

"The Diamond as Big as the Ritz" is an interesting tale of greed. I thought that the concept was interesting, and that Fitzgerald executed the story pretty well. I was almost disturbed at Percy's family, and their strong feelings of greed. They, as a family, had reached a point at which their wealth stood high above their friends in family. As a result of this greed, they were greatly punished. This is certainly a classic tale of redemption. Morally, this story has a lot to say about greed, and the consequences for being greedy. The Washington family is punished by the ultimate moral police: God himself. It's interesting that Fitzgerald makes a reference like this one to religion, and demonstrates God's power and unwilling to support the greedy. It was an interesting direction to with the story, and I feel like it added on to the tale's moral value. This addition also made the story seem less realistic, and more like some kind of folk tale, which I have noticed with many of Fitzgerald's short stories.

"The Ice Palace"

Sally Carrol Happer lives in Tarleton, a city in Georgia. She has lived there for entire life, and has grown bored with the monotony of daily Southern life. She strives to live in a different environment, so she plans to wed a man in the north named Harry Bellamy. Her friends are totally shocked at her choice to do this, and they plead her to stay in Georgia, but Sally specifies her need to have something more in her life. In the winter, Sally travels north to visit Harry's town and meet his friends and family. However, Sally is almost tortured by the "Ice Palace" of the north, and realizes that her true home is in Georgia. Sally returns home and is happy to take part in the same routine of Southern life.

What impressed me about this story was Fitzgerald's ability to manipulate southern accents in his dialogue. Not only did this make dialogue more interesting in the story, but it also made the setting come to life. It gives the reader a good taste of the daily routine of Southern life in the fictional city of Tarleton. In terms of the story's actual plot line, I thought that it was somewhat uneventful, but, at the same, I didn't feel like anything else really needed to happen. The story does have a lot to say about finding your place in society, even though this is entirely based on the environment. I actually wrote a poem with a similar theme: that your hometown will always stay true to you even if it has its faults. This was an overall enjoyable read, but I found myself to be more engrossed in the setting of relaxed southern life than the actual plot.

"Bernice Bobs Her Hair"

Bernice is a girl born and raised in Wisconsin. One August, she goes to stay with her cousin, Marjorie. Bernice doesn't exactly fit in with Marjorie and her friends, and Marjorie is worried that Bernice is having a negative effect on her social life because no boys want to dance with Bernice. Bernice overhears a conversation between Marjorie and Marjorie's mother about how Bernice is too socially inept. Bernice is so devastated that she threatens to leave, but Marjorie seems to not care at all. Bernice eventually agrees to let Marjorie teach her how to communicate with other boys and girls, and, more importantly, how to flirt and make boys interested in her. Bernice catches boy's attention by teasing them and telling them that they will get to watch her bob her hair. Suddenly, Bernice is socially accepted and many boys are attract to her, including a boy, Warren, whom once followed Marjorie around. However, after much time of neglect, Warren becomes interested in Bernice instead of Marjorie. Marjorie becomes jealous, and convinces Bernice to go to the barbershop and change her hairstyle. Bernice can no longer bob her hair back and fourth, so boys suddenly become uninterested in her. Bernice is so humiliated that she packs her truck that night, and decides to leave on a late night train. Before Bernice leaves, she goes into Marjorie's room and cuts off her pigtails, making her unattractive. She takes Marjorie's pigtails and throws them into Warren's car.

"Bernice Bobs Her Hair" is a very morally rich story, almost to the point at which it could be compared to an old folk tale. It tells the classic tale of a socially awkward and gullible protagonist whom struggles to make herself stand out in society. Her mentor, Marjorie, teaches Bernice everything she needs to know about becoming socially successful. After Bernice becomes to attractive,  Marjorie makes an inevitable turn on her, banishing her from social success for a limited period of time. What interested me the most was this story's ability to satirize teenage society. The boys seem to be totally uninterested in the personalities of their lovers, and solely interested in their physical appearances. This is something that is even applicable to modern society. The story also adheres to issues of social violence i.e. bullying. Though the protagonist is morally righteous, she is not accepted socially and is pretty much ignored. Marjorie, the one person that agrees to help her out, eventually turns on Bernice. This stresses the significance of having trustworthy friendships, as opposed to social demons that seem to thrive in society today. "Bernice Bobs Her Hair" is also a tale of revenge which, though normally looked down upon, is almost glorified in the story. I believe it can be seen as a value in this story, as it sets the two main characters on an even playing field, stressing the classing "an eye for an eye" moral.