Preview

Prohibition In The Great Gatsby Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
724 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Prohibition In The Great Gatsby Essay
During the Jazz age, in the 1920’s, prohibition is a law that enforces rules against drinking. Prohibition is the illegal distribution of alcohol from 1919 to 1933. This is created during the 18th amendment to reduce crime and improve the health of citizens. Prohibition created more crime and made a lot of people smoke more as a habit, taking place of their drinking. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, by F Scott Fitzgerald, speakeasies and bootleggers began to sell their own alcohol and make their own money. Because of this the crime rate was high and went against the point of prohibition which was to decrease felonies. Everyone in Gatsby, or most everyone, attended the parties that Gatsby threw and all drank alcohol that he provided. Gatsby is …show more content…
In this novel there was rich and poor and all the rich people drank and had a good time because the poor people remained on their side, not intervening and not doing much. They, poor people, did not get as much alcohol, but if they are able to afford it then they could purchase it from bootleggers or speakeasies, which were very common during this time period. Everyone’s behavior, decisions, and attitude are affected by the crime taking place. Nobody is supposed to own booze, nobody is supposed to be able to receive alcohol and ingest it during this time period and yet several people did. Everyone was selfish and only went to Gatsby’s for the party, for the booze, for the music. Nobody knew Gatsby and nobody really cared much about him, maybe they admired him for his parties, but they did not love him. They loved the gatherings. This amendment is created to create a better environment for people, to make everyone cleaner and prevent the issues that were occurring, but the amendment only created organized crime, made police unable to throw everyone in jail because of how many people were consuming the liquor, and because of how many people were unable to have the alcohol, it made it feel like a need. More people began to spend their money on booze and because of this people were in financial

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The 18th Amendment is a moment in the early 20th century that often is passed by unrecognized for the important failure that it was. Leading up to the Volstead Act, the U.S. needed someway of taking the tax income earned through alcohol, leading to income tax, during prohibition the influences for many pop culture icons like Al Capone or Izzy Einstein emerged, and afterwards, drinking declined. Daniel Okrent’s Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition details this rich history surrounding the Eighteenth Amendment including, the time leading up, what occurred during both socially and politically, and the aftermath. Orkrent is not kind to prohibition, he finds it to be a colossal failure, seeing a spike in crime apart from drinking, a split in political ideology, as well as an incoherent, divided government trying to execute this amendment. Okrent’s belief seems to be throughout the book is that, although…

    • 1437 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Prohibition era began with the ratification of the 18th Amendment. The 18th Amendment banned the manufacturing, transportation, and sale of all intoxicating liquors. It is important to note that the 18th Amendment only banned the manufacturing, sale, and transport of liquor while it did not ban the possession or consumption. This loophole made it possible for a small percentage to produce liquor before the amendment was ratified and they could serve it throughout the Prohibition era legally. The 18th Amendment proved to be impossible to fully enforce. During this era the illegal production and sale of liquor increase. Speakeasies which were illegal secret establishments where people would come to drink liquor were also on the rise. Organized crime and racketeering dominated in many areas, especially urban areas such as Chicago.…

    • 410 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald illustrates the social rejection of the Prohibition in the 1920s. Prohibition, the ban on the sale and consumption of alcohol, made millionaires out of bootleggers like Gatsby in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel. F. Scott Fitzgerald was driven to write many novels because of his love for Zelda. Great Gatsby, a novel written by Fitzgerald, portrayed the lavish lifestyle of the rich in the 1920s and their ignorance toward Prohibition.…

    • 1959 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Gatsby exemplified the “Jazz Age;” he was known for hosting very luxurious and lavish parties on a weekly basis. Gatsby’s view on spending money was that if he had the money, he should spend it. He hosted parties that weren’t just small gatherings though, they were more of a way for people to show off there social status, an excuse to get drunk, and a way to meet ne people. In fact, most of the people who went to Gatsby’s parties didn’t know Gatsby at all; they just went to prove their social status. Nick Carraway, the narrator of the story, explains to us; “I believe that on the first night I went to Gatsby’s house I was one of the few guests who had actually been invited. People were not invited- they went there”…

    • 1137 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The 18th Amendment was passed by Congress in 1919 banning the manufacture and sale of alcohol. The National Prohibition Act, also informally known as the Volstead Act, was passed to carry out the intentions of the 18th Amendment. Many people did not agree with this, so it led to the creation of speakeasies (secret hidden bars that illegally sold alcohol) and bootleggers (people who made money by selling alcohol illegally), which were examples of organized crime. This organized crime spread rapidly throughout the United States, and Fitzgerald provides examples of this through Gatsby’s character. Late in the book, it is revealed that Gatsby made his mysterious profit from bootlegging that he covered up by saying he owned a lot of “drug stores”. He used the money and power through his illegal profits to provide alcohol at all of his extravagant parties each…

    • 2015 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Pharmacies would turn around and sell illegal alcohol to those who had the money to pay for it. Gatsby became intertwined with these pharmacies and illegal distribution sales. In this way Gatsby was able to get the banned alcohol for parties that were being thrown. Since he was able to do such things, people noticed him which gained him popularity. Without the gained popularity, he would have been unable to house his own parties in order to attain Daisy’s attention. With the prohibition issues, bigger problems emerged rather than just people drinking illegally. This began the start of organized crime in the…

    • 439 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ridge Scholarship Essay

    • 819 Words
    • 4 Pages

    On the surface, The Great Gatsby reads as a story of thwarted love between a man and a woman. The real theme of the novel, however, encompasses a highly symbolic meditation on 1920’s America as a whole, and, in particular, the disintegration of the American dream in an era of unprecedented prosperity and material excess. Fitzgerald portrays the 1920’s as an era of decaying social and moral values, evidenced in its overarching cynicism, greed, and empty pursuit of pleasure. The reckless jubilance that led to decadent parties and wild jazz music—epitomized in The Great Gatsby by the opulent parties that Gatsby himself hosts every Saturday night—resulted ultimately in the corruption of the…

    • 819 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Prohibition commenced on 16th Janurary 1920, which was followed by the Volstead Act (formally known as National Prohibition act) a year later. The government's intent was to raise the nation’s moral standards, however, it had the opposite effect. In practice it was difficult to enforce and it was not difficult for drinkers to find alcohol, as F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel makes very clear. Bootlegging, the unlawful production and provision of alcohol, became big business, making fortunes for criminals such as the gangster Al Capone. This appears to be the principal source of Gatsby’s wealth, the core of corruption within his…

    • 102 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The 1920s was known as The Roaring Twenties because America’s economy increased and society morals changed. The 1920s was modern America. The economic increase looked good for America but no one knew what was occurring behind the scenes. Prohibition was enforced on July 19, 1920. The legislation of prohibition introduced gangsterism. Prohibition was meant to enforce discipline, instead it created corruption. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the main character, Jay Gatsby, was new money and gained his money through illegal business encounters. He came from a poor family where he was previously known as James Gatz. Jay Gatsby was able to become successful because of the opportunities in the 1920s. The novel, The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, embodies the culture of the 1920s by depicting the rise of illegal activity and economic advances.…

    • 1316 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald focuses on the wealthy class that live in New York, and takes place during the “Roaring Twenties”, and era of economic prosper and recklessness after World War I. Fitzgerald highlights the irresponsibility and lack of morality that derives from wealth. Throughout the novel, there are a number of characters that abuse their wealth or power in a way to excuse their moral irresponsibility. Through Gatsby’s disputed accumulation of wealth and Tom’s unceasing trysts, Fitzgerald paints a vivid picture of two men who choose to use their wealth and objectives as an excuse for their immoral habits.…

    • 896 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Later on, while he is trying to get Daisy from Tom, Gatsby is so overly consumed by his want of her he cannot see her immoral character, which creates a strange scene especially after the argument that happened in New York and accident in the Valley of Ashes when Gatsby sits outside and watches Daisy’s home, exclaiming to Nick “I’m just going to wait here and see if he tries to bother her about that unpleasantness this afternoon” (145). This helps establish that Gatsby is blind to her by sitting outside watching over her even when it is clear from Nick’s point of view that nothing will happen yet Gatsby is just paranoid about Tom hurting Daisy. However, it also shows how consumed he is by her, since he just sits calmly waiting to make sure…

    • 351 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Prohibition was one of the main changes to society during the Roaring 20’s. Prohibition was a ban all on distribution, production and consumption of alcohol and was created in 1919. Prohibition began because of the societal issues caused by drinking. Some of these issues included parents not being able to support their family because they spent all their money on alcohol, abusive drunks and underage drinking. In Document 1 an excerpt from…

    • 721 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Prohibition was introduced into the U.S. Constitution, changing many people's lives for the positives or negative. Jay Gatsby used this to his advantage making his large fortune bootlegging. Gatsby was a very smart man. He took advantage of the time in society to make money and did it very secretively and smart so he wouldn't carry the risk of getting caught. Prohibition was introduced because the U.S. Government thought it would reduce the amount of drinking and deaths in the U.S. annually…

    • 563 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The 1920s was a time in history defined largely by Prohibition and organized crime. In The Great Gatsby, life back then is perfectly illustrated from the wild parties to the behind the scene drug deals. Throughout the novel Fitzgerald is constantly showing you that behind the elegant parties and extreme wealth, America is not what it claims to be.…

    • 944 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the society during the 1920s, prohibition was a major issue. Prohibition was started on January 16, 1919 which was the 18th amendment, a period where the sale, manufacture, or transport of alcoholic beverages became illegal. People were not happy with this law. However, even though this law was passed it was not followed or enforced. People found ways…

    • 473 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays