What I didn't know then

So about all the alcohol... It wasn't just in the time period that they drank a lot. It was because of all the previous happenings, especially to the men in the novel. As the story winded down, I began to realize that the consumption of alcohol was a way to free these guys minds from everything going on around them. Jake drinks because of Brett, which I think she understands since she told him not to drink and that "he'll be alright" (pg250). Also with the first world war just having ended, drinking was an escape from the horror for the veterans. Hemingway had drinking problems himself and may have strongly pronounced alcohol in the story since it was a popular escape by most in the 1920's.

So about the sexual references... Brett represents the independence of women growing about in the 1920's when the story took place. She didn't need one man to tie her down and felt no commitment to any of the men she had affairs with. Sex in the novel also brought about problems: Cohn turned from quiet to outspoken and violent when he found out Brett had been with Romero (pg 206). Jake and even Mike suffer because of Brett's infidelity and inability to maintain a permanent relationship.