Alcoholism within the Great Gatsby's depiction of the Jazz Age and Amanda's showcasing of college life are not defined in the text as alcoholism. They are unable to control their drinking habits, have serious withdraws, and choose alcohol over meaningful sober experiences, yet it's not treated as an addiction, rather a defining and necessary experience. Excessive drinking was the norm in the Jazz Age, and its normalcy is recreated in the current college experience, and being used to serve the same purpose. Drinking was, and is, being used to combat a lack of purpose and identity in eras of excess. Instead of studying or clocking in at a shity part time job on her college weekend, Amanda wakes up from an “extended night of drinking” and immediately prepares to waste the day away parting hopping and blacking out again, though she is even “not old enough to legally drink”. Her roommates are in a similar boat, and the group slogs through a seemingly common morning routine of forcing food into their bodies …show more content…
He is severely purposeless, having no goals or dreams that are his own. Notable people in his retelling of his Jazz Age life such as Tom Buchanan, Myrtle, and Jordan Baker all have scenes that reveal their shallowness and dependence on alcohol for fun and a feeling of acceptance. Though they have different faces and places in the Jazz Age’s strict social structure, the people at the time were all the same. Nick is just another body in the crowd, just as Amanda. The first party of the day she enters leaves her “amidst a crowd of blazers, leggings and Sperrys playing beer pong” all of whom have had assumedly a very similar morning to her, down to their clothing choices being uniform. They all have access to too much to drink, too much free time to party and be hungover, and the wealth to buy numerous IU costumes and liquor to blend into the