"In the main hall a bar with a real brass rail was set up , and stocked with gins and liquors and with cordials so long forgotten that most of his female guests were too young to know one from another. "
In this passage, Nick is describing the beverages, mostly alcohol, set up at the party. There is gin, liquor, and some other drinks that are really old. The female guests at the bar, are so young they don't even know the drinks. Through this passage Nick is saying how Gatsby is wealthy, that he can bring back beverages "long forgotten." Gatsby must have some deep connections with people to be able to bring back old, and prohibited cordials. Also Nick can be saying even though prohibition was going on people drank, including young girls. The young girls, don't know what it is because they shouldn't be drinking it in the first place, but also because it is old. He is probably amazed at what he is seeing, since he is from the Midwest, where this isn't very common.
I agree in the fact that this quote does mention alcohol to show how wealthy Gatsby was. At the party, champagne was served in glasses that were the size of a finger bowl. However, alcohol was also mentioned in order to demonstrate the power of the people from the high class society. The time when they were parting and drinking was the 1920's when alcohol was illegal. But none of the guest at the party were shocked to see drinking so this showed how normal it was for them to break laws and get away with any penalty.
ReplyDeleteThe girls were definitely shown to make the reader see how corrupt the society became because of money. Young girls who do not even know the name of liquor were out drinking. What makes this situation worst is the fact that they were not even chasing men their age. It was easier to get accepted by old men and get rich quickly. Nick was seeing just how corrupt and dishonest this 'high class society' was. Even though Nick knew he was wrong, he was still attracted to this new world.