Most of THE GREAT GATSBY is timeless. Love and the nutty things we do for love happens in/to every generation. It has for centuries, and it will until we cook ourselves off the planet. Fitzgerald focuses on the characters, the immediate settings, and the dialogue without much connection to real people or events that would locate the book in time. Apart from scattered, vague references to the war, the world series scandal, and prohibition, there isn't much to suggest this story couldn't happen in any era. Like, now. But Fitzgerald does pay close attention to one element of time: the seasons of the year. The plot begins in spring (season of re/birth and renewal), hits its peak in the summer (heat can be passionate or fatiguing), and now, in the penultimate chapter, we find ourselves at the beginning of fall. Fall is when things die.