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The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

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Thirteen “Dry” Years:
The Amendment that Banned Alcohol for Thirteen Years
On January 17, 1920, the 18th Amendment was enforced throughout the United States: Prohibition. The18th Amendment banned the selling, manufacturing, and production of alcohol. Just a short thirteen years later the 21st Amendment was passed, repealing the18th Amendment. Banning alcohol intended to lower crime rates and eliminate other social problems in the early 21st century. However, the banning of alcohol did not end social problems and crimes; it sparked more organized crimes, such as bootlegging. Bootlegging was the illegal sale of alcohol that helped many people become rich fast.
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, took place during the Prohibition era. Jay Gatsby was one of the wealthiest characters in the roaring 20s, because he was a bootlegger. During Gatsby’s parties Nick Carraway, the narrator, describes the party as “... lights grow brighter as the earth lurches away from the sun, and now the orchestra is playing yellow cocktail music, and the opera of voices pitches a key higher… excited with triumph, glide on through the sea-change of faces and voices an colour under the constantly changing light.” Gatsby’s parties were so large and everyone in New York knew about them, but no enforcement was shown to stop the alcohol drinking at these lavish parties. Moreover, Al Capone was a real life Gatsby in the 1920s. He was a gangster and organized crimes. Al Capone earned sixty million

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