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Effects Of Alcohol In The Great Gatsby

651 Words3 Pages

Andrew Joelson
Ms. Kigar
Honors English 10
March 24 2023

If you were to become addicted to something so detrimental to your life and you knew that before trying the first taste, would you do it? Alcohol is a tale as old as time, it was drunk before water was clean enough to consume, so how bad could it be if it's been around for so long? Alcohol has been around for about 10,000 years. It was originally used primarily for medicinal purposes but now that is not the case. As long as alcohol has been popular in history so has the belief that the consumption of alcohol is harmful to society. To this extent the argument against using alcohol always seems to be on the losing side of the battle but the right choice isn't always the most popular. Those who drink alcohol don't know the damage they are doing to themselves and others. …show more content…

In the context of The Great Gatsby Tom Buchanan becomes overly intoxicated, during his drunkenness he abuses his mistress. This scene does a great job illustrating the effects that alcohol has over the human mind and body; not being abble to control your actions. Although not to the extent of Tom Buchanan, his friend, Nick Carraway had no cognitive control under the influence, he was a bystander to the violence but he didn’t do anything becuase he was also drunk. In contrast if he was not under the influence he would most likely have intervened to protect Myrtle. This is just one example of the damage caused by alcohol. The Great Gatsby was made to reflect real life during the roaring 20s, but alcoholism didn't stop after the jazz age; it has continued throughout

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