Social Class In The Great Gatsby

Bootlegging is the making, selling and distribution of illegal goods such as alcohol. Many things lead into bootlegging but the main cause was the passing of prohibition. Bootlegging became a worldwide crisis in certain situations such as the critical rise of crime rates. There were many crimes, or criminal investigations that went on during the time of prohibition such as bootlegging, gang violence, and the modifications of cars to run from police also known as “rum-running.” It was a time of drastic criminal activity. There were many after effects of bootlegging such as the United States gaining a corrupt government, and

Smuggling alcohol was a very lucrative business for the unscrupulous. In order to ease the transportation, smugglers switched from beer and wine to hard liquor because it was more concentrated easier to hide. Since illegal liquor production was a black market, producers did not have to worry about government regulations when considering what to put into their drinks. In addition, many bootleggers were new to the game and did not know what they were doing. Many ended up accidentally producing poisonous liquor.

With industrialization, big businesses thrived off of the underclass and left a trail of social consequences for their actions. “Poverty, crime, slavery, prostitution, and alcoholism were seen as blights on the face of a young nation, and the middle classes were keen to define a morality and sense of society that they felt could be described as American.” The emerging industrialist and financial aristocracy lived in palatial homes while the rest fought and worked hard to survive everyday. Epidemics of destructive drinking has historically been analyzed to occur when one wants to relieve stress. Families were destroyed as men would rather stay in saloons than go home. Supporters of Prohibition believed alcohol was a nations curse and banning it would lessen crime, strengthen families, and generally improve national character. “Section 1. After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.” The 18th amendment did not ban the consumption of alcohol rather the manufacture and distribution. People bought more bootlegged alcohol, illegal liquor, which was lesser quality and potentially dangerous. “One thousand Americans died every year during the

Fitzgerald positions the characters of The Great Gatsby as emblems of these social trends. Nick and Gatsby, both of whom fought in World War I, exhibit the newfound cosmopolitanism and cynicism that

The Roaring Twenties were a time of booming economic growth in America. Newfound wealth flowing into the nation’s market provided a stream of chances for impoverished people to achieve the American Dream. This gave many people the impression that social mobility was not only possible, but prevalent and that lower class and upper class could merge together in unison. In the novel The Great Gatsby by renowned American author F. Scott Fitzgerald, protagonist Jay Gatsby is used as a way of showing the impossibilities in attempting to rise through the social structure by his incapability of blending in with upper class patricians. F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby highlights the false beliefs that a rise in social mobility and new opportunities for lower class citizens to achieve the American Dream were commonplace while a decline in plutocracy occurred during the 1920’s in America.

As lavish parties with flapper girls, jazz music, suited-up men, cigars, and alcohol were thrown during the era, cultural excitement was at its peak. The 1920’s was a highlighted era in which drinking was a social trend. Both, men and women drank in parties as they danced the night away. Liquor was handed out often and was the center of excitement. There were numerous clubs and party

In the 1920’s they passed the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution that made drinking illegal. This Amendment was more commonly known as the Prohibition; because of this new law, they arrested anyone who they found drinking or selling alcohol, which turned out to be a lot of people. The over populated courtrooms and jail cells became too much to handle and some courts were reluctant to find the defendants guilty. Soon enough alcohol was being smuggled into parties and the police could barely do anything about it. In the article “Prohibition and Its Effects” Lisa states, “People who could afford the high price of smuggled liquor flocked to speakeasies and gin joints. These establishments could be quite glamourous.Whereas

The huge public demand for alcohol led to a soaring business for bootleggers. When prohibition began, people immediately wanted a way to drink. Hence, the extremely profitable bootlegging business was born. Before Prohibition gangs existed, but had little influence. Now, they had gained tremendous power almost overnight. Bootlegging was easy - New York City gangs paid hundreds of poor immigrants to maintain stills in their apartments. Common citizens, once law abiding, now became criminals by making their own alcohol. However, this posed risks for those who made their own. "The

     The booming parties in Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby reflect life in America during the 1920s. Gatsby displays his prominent fortune by throwing grand parties. From next door, Nick Carraway witnesses the scene of Gatsby’s fabulous summer parties:

¬¬¬During the Roaring Twenties, there were many lawbreakers who increased the rate of organized crime. Unlike bootleggers, these lawbreakers stole alcoholic beverages from locked up warehouses, to resell to their customers. “Hijacking was another way of getting the liquor. Early in the Prohibition Era there was still a lot of liquor locked away in government warehouses to be sold for medicinal purposes. Much of this was simply stolen by the criminals, particularly while it was being transported” (Cohen). The lawbreakers during the Roaring Twenties

“Prohibition did not achieve its goals. Instead, it added to the problems it was intended to solve.” On 16th January 1920, one of the most common personal habits and customs of American society came to a halt. The eighteenth amendment was implemented, making all importing, exporting, transporting, selling and manufacturing of intoxicating liquors absolutely prohibited. This law was created in the hope of achieving the reduction of alcohol consumption, which in turn would reduce: crime, poverty,

      During the decade of the 1920's, America was going through many changes, evolving from the Victorian Period to the Jazz Age. Changing with the times, the young adults of the 1920's were considered the "Lost Generation". The Great War was over in 1918. Men who returned from the war had the scars of war imprinted in their minds. The eighteenth amendment was ratified in 1919 which prohibited the manufacture, sale, or transportation of liquor in the United States. Despite the eighteenth amendment, most people think of large, lavish parties when thinking about the 1920's. The nineteenth amendment was passed in 1920 which gave women

The swindlers, also known as bootleggers set up 100,000’s of illegal ‘speakeasies’ in Chicago alone and worked along the lines of “intimidation, blackmail”, bribery and homicide. These businesses, often hidden in basements, office buildings, and anywhere that could be found became straightforward for customers to lay hands on hard liquor. On the other hand, the Bootleggers smuggled liquor from oversees and Canada, stole it from government warehouses, and produced their own. The bootlegging business had become so extensive that the laws were flagrantly violated by gangsters, commoners and even sly government officials who had formed “corrupt alliances” with the mobsters, hence making it impossible to prevent immense quantities of liquor from entering the country.

Bootleg alcohol was one of the main reasons organized crimes began (Organized Crime and Prohibition 1). Bootlegging was when alcohol was brought into the country illegally from outside the borders.

On January 19, 1920, the 18th Amendment was instated, which legally prohibited the "manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors" (Document). This law shut down liquor businesses and appears to be banning alcohol in the United States under all circumstances but when analyzed closely, it failed to state that in addition to the ban on the economic side, it was also outlawing the consumption side. The government assumed that due to the widespread knowledge and awareness of the 18th Amendment and its drastic effect on a common material good in society, that the ban on the importation, transportation, and selling of alcohol would indirectly lead to the inability to consume it. This was not the case. A few people discovered the loophole and as a result, the illegal liquor business began booming because though the supply of alcohol decreased, the demand was higher than ever.