How does the time period affect the characters? - Carson Corrick

Nick Carraway
     In Fitzgerald's novel, The Great Gatsby, we are brought into a time period full of celebration.  This time period is known as the 1920's, often referred to as "The Roaring 20's."  Nick Carraway was a World War 1 veteran, and during the 1920's, World War 1 had just come to an end.  Nick ends up moving from Minnesota to New York to learn about the Bond Business.  He wants the "Glitz and Glamour" that New York contains.  During this time period, the stock market is reaching an all time high and it was very common for people to start getting involved with the stock market and big businesses.

     In chapter two of The Great Gatsby, Nick goes to a party with Tom and Myrtle. Nick claims that he got drunk for the second time in his life at this party.  During the early 1900's a prohibition movement started gaining more and more supporters which led to a constitutional amendment being passed in 1920, which banned alcohol sales and consumption.  As the demand of alcohol increased, so did the methods of masking its production.  Party hosts made sure that there were 'finger foods' at parties to insure that there would be no alcohol consumption on an empty stomach.  People came up with inventive ways to hide alcohol by creating heavily flavored mixtures assembled to mask the taste of gin. These concoctions are commonly referred to as cocktails.  The reason why parties were happening more often was due to that fact that it was the Jazz Age.  During the Jazz age, many artists felt the need to create something that expressed what they were feeling at the time.  Some created music, yet some created beautiful works of art.  The music helped add to the entertainment to the parties at a reasonable price. Although the characters in the story are fiction, the time period seems extremely accurate compared to what actually happened.