The Great Gatsby: Chapter III (pages 39-59)

F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby offers a great deal of insight and lessons on how certain things can lead to negative outcomes. Beside just the outcomes of having money, Fitzgerald makes it very obvious about how alcohol causes havoc. Earlier in the novel Tom punched Mrs. Wilson because they got into an argument while they were both intoxicated. This chapter offers even more proof that alcohol can destroy relationships when, "Most of the remaining women were now having fights with men said to be their husbands" (Fitzgerald, 51). It seems as though with this society drinking and nonsense arguments go hand-in-hand. Another negative aspect about alcohol is that the day after each party it seems as though some part of Gatsby's home needed, "repairing [for] the ravages of the night before" (Fitzgerald, 39). One man even got into a car accident and was not even conscious enough to understand what had happened. Gatsby, who does not drink at his parties, is a perfects example that being sober helps him to think rationally and actually remember events. Fitzgerald shows us through one of Nick's experiences after another that drinking may be fun, but in the long run it causes a great deal of problems. Nick has moved into a society that seems to do a great deal of partying because they have so much excess money.