Forbidden Love in The Great Gatsby

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Recommended: Why prohibition failed and effects on social values

Many people in the 1920s lived very extravagant lives. The time of the “Jazz Age” or the “Roaring 20s” where girls were flappers and the men were bootleggers. People loved to have fun and be carefree. However, alcohol dependence was becoming a problem and many started realizing that. Taking action to stop this was the hard part. Alcohol was corrupting the 1920s even though some did not recognize it. In the Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald displays the corruption during the 1902s through his main character, Jay Gatsby, and his illustration of prohibition.
Prohibition was a long period of time in U.S. history that lasted nearly fourteen years. The manufacturing, transportation, and sale of liquor was made completely illegal. The period of time known as the prohibition led to the first and only time that an Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was repealed. Prohibition was also known as the “Noble Experiment”. Intoxicating liquors were outlawed and many people were very upset about this. Speakeasies, glamor, and gangsters came up in this time and characterized this period in history. Even the most average citizen was known to break the law (Rosenberg). After the American Revolution drinking was definitely on the rise and most people did it. According to Burns and Novick, Prohibition turned law-abiding citizens into criminals, made a mockery of the justice system, caused illicit drinking to seem glamorous and fun (PBS).
The intention of making the manufacturing, transportation, and sale of liquor illegal was to improve the lives of all Americans, to protect families, individuals, and society as a whole from the dangerous affects of alcohol abuse (Burns). This caused many faith driven Americans to rethink their morality and the def...

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...rall it seemed like Americans were having lots of fun during the Prohibition. No book captures the carless and wild period quite like F. Scott Fitzgerald did in The Great Gatsby. Although Gatsby’s wealth was not overnight we have to respect him because he worked for it. He may have had to do some wrong things to get there but at least he was motivated and dedicated. All Gatsby wanted to do was impress Daisy. He loved her more than he even knew he did. It sad but in the end love really does kill Jay Gatsby.

Works Cited

Avey, Tori. "The Great Gatsby, Prohibition, and Fitzgerald." PBS. PBS, 14 May 2013. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.
Burns, Ken, and Lynn Novick. "Prohibition." PBS. PBS, Web. 27 Feb. 2014.
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gastby. Essex: Pearson Education Limited, 2008. Print.
Rosenberg, Jennifer. "Prohibition." 20th Century History. Education, Web. 24 Feb. 2014.

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