American Imperialism In The Great Gatsby

CHAPTER TWO

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

The United States and liquor have always had a good relationship. Americans loved their alcoholic beverages just as much as Rubeus Hagrid loved caring for magical creatures. Religious revivalism thrived in the 1920s to 1930s, to which lead to demands for temperance and movements that aimed for the abolition of societal norms such as slavery. Throughout the history of the United States, prohibition left a great dent in its history. In certain states, this started roughly during World War 1 in order to save grain for food production. Alcohol was seen as such a force that destroyed families and marriages, which strengthened the passing of this law (Brown, 1915). Former US President Herbert Hoover said

Organized crime as well as criminality is represented by Meyer Wolfshiem, who is a character based on the gambler Arnold Rothstein. Wolfshiem introduces Gatsby to a scheme that makes easy money, namely criminal capitalism and gangster economics. Those without class and even-handed society advertised in handbills inducing immigrants to venture into America proves to be a lie (Levitt, 2011).

There was an obvious disregard for the law as presented by a large majority of the characters. Nick, Gatsby, Daisy, Tom, Jordan and Myrtle were all noted to have consumed alcoholic beverages throughout the story. What does this tell us? It tells us that Americans disregard the law that has been enacted with an iron first like waving a hand in dismissal. The intention of raising a nation’s moral standards has become counterproductive (Sutherland, 2010).

“It is up to us white people, who are the dominant race, to watch out or these other races will have control of things.” There have been numerous, if not subtle hints of racism in The Great Gatsby. Tom Buchanan was a prominent figure of white supremacy throughout the story as he talks about the inferiority of people of

They obvious see themselves as supreme, since they have belonged to the higher class throughout most of their lifetime. Being white, rich and arrogant creates little room for moral values and has a greater likelihood of crating racist in di viduals.Another example is when a limousine passed by with a white chauffeur in which Nick is surprised because a white person is driving around “negroes”. Nick reflects on this with thoughts like anything can happen now that we’re over this bridge. Who would have thought a person’s melanin distribution would dictate how scoeity would treat them? Racism, just like alcoholism, is a universal concept. It is not in the United States alone where racism is prominent. It can be found all over Europe and Asia. The racism present in the United States is one of the darker portions of history books. Americans sold human beings from Africa as they wood farm animals. They had no right to, that’s for sure. A dark cloud looms over colonialism and we must ask ourselves, is one of the most celebrated authors of our time racist? Or was he merely adhering to the societal norms present during that era? Did he respect people of color just as he did with his white comrades? Or was he another Tom