Alcohol In The Great Gatsby

In the 1920’s the 18th amendment was passed: Prohibition. This was the ban of the sale, distribution and manufacturing of alcohol. Protestors calling for a better family environment helped to pass this amendment. Prohibition had an enormous affect on the 20’s and 30’s, it helped to shape the culture of the decades. The 18th amendment was meant to improve the economy and lower the crime rates; it did the exact opposite.

The Eighteenth Amendment, created during President Wilson Era, prohibited the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol. The Eighteenth Amendment was created because of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) that said that drinking alcohol causes a lot of problems in the society, but the WCTU couldn't establish any law for the prohibition of alcohol. So the Anti-Saloon League (ASL) was created to advance the ideas of the WCTU. The ASL convinced politicians to support the Women’s Christian Temperance Union using pressure politics. Finally, on January 17th, 1920, Eighteenth Amendment was created to prohibit the commerce of alcohol. With this Amendment, the quantity of deaths, suicides, traffic accidents, family arguments, aggression

The 18th Amendment of the Constitution which prohibited the sell of alcohol was first proposed in 1917, and then would get approved 2 years later in 1919. One year later on January 17, 1920 the Amendment would start to be in effect. Even before it was passed over half of the country had already banned it. Publically many had denounced it yet privately almost everyone thought the decision would be one they would soon end up regretting. With this law now in effect, there ended up being a rise in crime due to a rise in bootlegging which is the transportation of alcoholic beverages. The government was starting to face a dilemma because there was still a demand to drink, but people had no other option aside from obtaining it illegally.

During the era of 1920-1933 could best be characterized as the path to a sober nation. This time of history consisted of the eighteenth amendment which was passed on October 28th 1919; Volstead Act. The Volstead act was created to carry out the movement of prohibition. In addition, Prohibition is the legal prohibiting of the manufacture and sale of alcoholic drinks for common consumption according to dictionary.com. Furthermore, this amendment concurs that alcohol beverages could not be made, transported, or sold legally in the United States. People started to trust that drinking would demolish ones character, change politics, and created crime. On the other hand, the prohibition amendment did lower alcohol consequences outcomes, in the end this amendment should never have been passed as it caused more organized crime and an increase of problems with our economy.

The eighteenth amendment was officially signed into law on January 16, 1920. But the conflict started many years earlier in 1870 when a woman's crusade protested the “Demon Rum” (“Prohibition Repealed”). Many other anti-liquor groups protested prior to the eighteenth amendment being enacted. Woodrow Wilson tried to ease the country into prohibition by using the war to ration grain. This resulted in sixty-five percent of the country prohibiting alcohol even before the ratification of the eighteenth amendment (“Digital History”).

Authors like F. Scott Fitzgerald, Stephen King, and Dorothy Parker were amazing authors and had a problem with drinking alcohol or doing drugs. Despite the obvious drinking and/or drug problem, the three authors were still able to function and write novels. Fitzgerald wrote his well-known novel, The Great Gatsby, without being completely sober. Fitzgerald added some of his own drunk experiences to the characters in his book The Great Gatsby, and King wrote and published a whole book about his drug addiction. Dorothy Parker on the other hand, did not show her alcohol abuse in any of her short stories. Unlike F. Scott Fitzgerald and Stephen King, Dorothy parker kept her life experiences away from her writing career. F. Scott Fitzgerald and Stephen King both had an alcohol addiction, and both authors used the experiences that occurred when they were drunk, in their novels and used alcohol as a writing fuel.

Daisy. Dai—” Making a short deft movement, Tom Buchanan broke her nose with his open hand. ”(Fitzgerald 37). Not only does this source show how Tom is inherently violent, but it also is a good example of violence having a deeper meaning in the book. This act of hitting his mistress should be taken as showing how even though Tom is cheating on his wife, he still loves her and will not tolerate someone using her name in vain.

The 18th amendment was the banning of making, selling, distribution, and possession of alcohol. This amendment was ratified on January 29th, 1919(Rebman9). Many people were for the ratification of the 18th amendment, many were also against the ratification. This ratification however caused for the modifying of cars to run faster which would lead into running from the cops. The people who ran from cops were usually delivering alcohol to places or people. There were also secret bars, and places to hangout to drink alcohol without cops knowing known as “speak easies”. Speak easies were hidden on side-streets, or alleyways in underground buildings or dugout buildings. This helped raise the crime rates

The banning of alcohol presented new chances for crime. Tim Nash said, “people turned more and more to criminal activity…” The prohibition did not sit well with the American population because consuming alcohol had become a routine for people. Americans became violent because of their desperation for alcohol. The 18th amendment fueled organized crime in the 1920’s (Bourdreaux). Even outstanding citizens were compelled to criminal activity during this time. Speakeasies and bootlegging became two ways of illegally acquiring alcohol.

The Prohibition was the time period in which the 18th amendment was in order. The 18th amendment prohibited the sale, manufacturing, and transportation on intoxicating liquors. Many people were upset with this law but very few people listened to the law. This law caused many problems including bootlegging, organized crime, smuggling, and trafficking of alcohol. With all these problems the law caused more problems than it solved.

     The eighteenth Amendment was passed in 1920, which made alcohol illegal. It was called the Prohibition Amendment. This was known as the “Noble Experiment”. All importing, exporting, selling, manufacturing and transporting of alcohol were illegal. The older people favored this amendment. They felt that alcohol was bad because of the way people behaved after drinking. People thought that crime, death rates and poverty would decrease now because alcohol was illegal. The younger generation did not like

In 1920 the 18th amendment to the U.S. constitution went into effect, banning alcohol and beginning prohibition in America. Its supporters vilified alcohol; they claimed that alcohol was an ineffective way to escape pain, that drinkers were slaves to the drink, and that alcohol causes men to revert back to a brutish state. Fitzgerald, however, uses The Great Gatsby as an argument against prohibition. It defends alcohol, condemns the institutions which support prohibition, and encourages those who are willing to break the law.

     The prohibitionists had several motives for letting loose their concern of alcohol. The main issue discussed, using the example of the average middle-class citizen, was the aspect of growing children and the effect of alcohol on the family. Facts show that children with parents that have major drinking problems are more “defective” than children with parents that

The 1920s, also known as the Roaring Twenties, was a time of speakeasies, organized crime, and corrupt government officials. This was largely to blame for the Eighteenth Amendment and prohibition of alcohol. The Eighteenth Amendment had made the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcohol illegal. By illegalizing alcohol, the Eighteenth Amendment attempted to decrease domestic violence, increase productivity in the workplace, and diminish poverty and health problems associated with the consumption of alcohol. Instead it created organized crime, disrespect for the law, and general resentment towards the government. The Eighteenth Amendment and the Prohibition of alcohol had failed because of the rise of organized crime, with gangs forming for the purpose of transporting and selling alcohol, which increased violent crime, and corrupted law enforcement and government officials.

Prohibition, under the Eighteenth Amendment was the Governments idea of illegalizing the consumption, production, and transportation of intoxicating liquors.