Just Drink Up, Bill!

Jake Barnes puts off every emotion and feeling he might have by consuming alcohol. Along with the men that make up his circle of friends, Jake is a WWI veteran which may play a role in his heavy drinking. He writes all problems off by offering a drink to someone. I turned three pages at most without Jake having some sort of liquor in his hand! Bill Gorton is a friend of Jake's and a war veteran as well whom Jake describes as "very happy" because he had a lot of money from his last book; to me this showed clearly the money-dependent lifestyle which people took on in the 1920's. I found it especially ironic how on page 76, Bill is describing his trip in Vienna and how it was not good because he was drunk all the while. Jake, who obviously cares little about what the man is saying, replies with an oblivious answer of "that's strange. Better have a drink" even though Bill has just said the drinking is what made his trip miserable!