The Great Gatsby: Character Flaws Enhanced and Hidden by Society

The Great Gatsby: Character Flaws Enhanced and Hidden by Society The 1920s have long been remembered as the "Roaring Twenties," an important historical and unique era of time. As a soaring stock market minted millionaires by the thousands, young Americans in the nation 's biggest cities rejected traditional social mores by embracing a modern urban culture of freedom, drinking illegally in speakeasies, dancing provocatively, and “Letting the Good Times Roll,” a popular and fitting phrase for this time period. For the first time, more Americans lived in cities than on farms. The nation’s total wealth more than doubled between 1920 and 1929, and this economic growth “swept many Americans into an affluent but unfamiliar ‘consumer society’” (Jonathan). People from coast to coast bought the same consumer goods, listened to the same music, did the same dances and even used the same slang. Along with the fun and new times, came the serious crime. During the 1920s, some freedoms were expanded while others were limited. The 18th Amendment, “The Volstead Act”, banned the manufacture and sale of “intoxicating liquors,” which closed every tavern, bar and saloon in the United States. From then on, it was illegal to sell any intoxication beverages with more than 0.5% alcohol. This drove to organized crime due to people creating illegal speakeasies instead of ordinary bars. These underground bars were controlled by bootleggers, racketeers and other organized-crime figures such as Chicago gangster Al Capone. The 1920’s were filled with fun, conformity, and crime (The Roaring). Most young people in America wanted to be apart of the new modern culture, and for this reason, America was completely transformed. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald exhibits the many conflicts of the 1920’s in Jay Gatsby and Nick Carraway by showing how their character flaws are enhanced and created due to the Modern Eastern Society. Jay Gatsby and Nick Carraway move to the Modern East in search of

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