Why does Gatsby drink so little? The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

is a man of
many secrets. He has carefully built a life that is based on pretensions and built on implied
illicit dealings. As such, he must always maintain control. He is an outside observer at his own
events even, carefully watching not only the crowd but also his own back. Look around him at the
actions of otherwhen they drink (such as Myrtle and ) and notice that in doing this they speak
their minds which leads to arguments. That, or they end up killing someone else (). This was a
commonof the 1920s and a common theme of prohibition, but it is also a common theme in the
illegal drug world today. Drug dealers, the ones who survive and are not arrested or killed, are
rarely users of their own product for they know that the only way to stay safe is to stay clean
and clear-headed. It is implied that there was a time when Gatsby himself was a drinker, and
part of 's advice to him seems to have been to teach him ways to stay in control. Also, while
this takes us to the end, when we see what Gatsby's father shares from his old school book -the
lists Gatsby had made as a plan to become a success, we can see that he was always willing to do
what it took to get him to the top. If not drinking was a part of that plan, then he would not
drink.