Essay On The Effects Of Prohibition In The Great Gatsby

The Roaring Twenties come to portray America during the time of Prohibition. In the 1920’s, where the book takes place, World War I had just come to a close. Many people swarmed toward the big cities from their small towns. They viewed the cities as an opportunity to search for a more modern way of living. Alcohol fluctuated in many new American homes and drunks occupied prisons and poorhouses.

When does the government have the right to legislate morality? Prohibition taught the American government the negative consequences of controlling what people do or how they act and showed what happens when the government tries to legislate morality. The 18th amendment, which was also known as the Prohibition, prohibited the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol (George, Robert P). The 18th amendment was passed on January 16, 1919, but did not go into effect until January 16, 1920 (Hoyt, Alai). This started the Prohibition Era in America (Hoyt, Alai).

How important is Prohibition to “The Great Gatsby”? F. Scott Fitzgerald’s masterpiece “The Great Gatsby” is a famous novel read by almost every American. The book’s setting is in the 1920’s and during that time period, prohibition played a major part in the society. In fact, prohibition caused the richness and greatness of Jay Gatsby, the novel’s main character. A lot of money is made by producing and selling illegal liquor and Jay Gatsby was one of those so called bootleggers.

Bootlegging alcohol was another problem in the 1920s; this is the reason why Gatsby became so wealthy. Foster explains in his novel How to read Literature like a Professor: “every story is written or inspired by the political problems around them, it contains the political reality of the time-power structures, relations among classes, issues of justice

Prohibition officially became a law in 1920, which made it illegal to sell liquor in the US (Hakim 27). Money was the key to the social scenes from theaters to restaurants, art galleries to night clubs (Ling 2). Poverty pushed the lower classes out into the streets, and enabled the wealthy to explore everything the city had to offer (Ling

He did not look to any literary works for inspiration, and acted more from his imagination and the experiences he went through. Acting more as a literary inspiration for others (Oswego.edu).” When trying to prove this statement true, Eckert who wrote the article gives examples of 3 of Poe’s works, those which happen to be his most famous poems. However, it is not only in poems that Poe seems to connect his life into writing, since the narrator in “The Black Cat” has a lot of similarities to Poe. Many people know about the sadness of Poe’s life, such as the fact that everyone around him basically died, but what a lot of people may not know is that Poe was a very self-destructive man. He was addicted to gambling and--like the narrator--to alcohol.

During the 20th century, also known as “The Roaring Twenties,” the United States was experiencing an era of wild youth, Jazz, and bogus prosperity. For instance, from 1920 to 1933, there was a movement called Prohibition that banned the production, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages. Disregarding the ordinance, there was still a heavy distribution of illegal alcohol. Being that “The Prodigal Son” was published in the midst of this chaos, it is believed that Johnson was influenced to create his works of art in discomfort of his surroundings. Within his poem, Johnson describes a young man that was eager to branch off from his family’s fortune.

However the unnamed king hated both of them, he made him drink the wine which lead to Hop Frog’s absurdity. King slapped Trippetta “He pushed her violently from him” which ultimately leads Hop Frog to take revenge from the king. Another theme of the story turns out to be empathy for Trippetta and this is conveyed when king “threw the contents of the brimming goblets in her face”. Hop Frog in some context seems to convey the real experience of Poe as the king in story performs the role of his foster father. Poe clearly had issues with Alcoholism his whole life and the turning of Hop Frog into a delirious person after drinking wine showed his vulnerability ”intoxication” which after all relates reality with the story.

Scott and Zelda fought for their unsuccessful battle to save their marriage but it didn't work. By 1932 Zelda had her second breakdown from which she never fully recovered. "Tender is the Night" published in 1934 was unsuccessful, crushed by his failure and despair for the divorce of Zelda he became an alcoholic. In 1937 he become a script-writer in Hollywood, where he fell in love with Sheila Graham, a gossip columnist. For the rest of his life, he had been frequently drunk and being a partyer where he became bitter and violent.

The UXL Encyclopedia of U.S. History talks about that time period by saying “The novel reflects the outward glitter and the inward corruption of the Roaring Twenties , also known as the Jazz Age, a decade of prosperity and excess that began soon after the end of World War I (1914–18) in 1918 and ended with the 1929 stock-market crash”(656). This included women wanting to work and be more equal and men who came back from the war just wanted to forget everything. F. Scott Fitzgerald was an author in the “Twenties” and lived a very typical lifestyle at the time. Through his book, “Great Gatsby”, you really get the taste of the era. The analysis of the book through his language, characters and events, it shows how his life was and how people acted at the time.

In this excerpt, alcohol is the placater and we know this because of his reference to a bottle. In fact, one can infer that it was not the first kind of incident that happened to the narrator. The landlord supports this inference when mentioning, “ You keep quiet now. You always make too much noise in there when girls come and leave (Hilbert Lines 14-16). These excerpts prove that the relationship the narrator had drove him to carry out actions he would not perform on a day to day basis.

America experienced a sudden disregard of Victorian values following World War I, causing the generation of the 1920s to dramatically contrast the previous. This severe degree of change produced three major manifestations of the contradictions in the twenties. There were massive conflicts to the Jazz Age, technological advancements, and Black Migration. The contradictions of the 1920s reflect America’s conflicted state between advancement and convention, as the cultural and technological developments of the era coincide with the inability of individuals to stray from traditional norms and racist attitudes. The Jazz Age was influential era of music, dance, flappers, and wild partying that forever changed America’s culture and normalcy for women.