Organized Crime In The Great Gatsby Essay

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Organized Crime and Its Influences The Roaring Twenties just would not be the same without the scandalous and suspicious organized crimes. At that point in history, organized crime was a huge influence.In the novel The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald portrays organized crime through the 1919 World Series and prohibition. Organized crime is typically defined as illegal behavior that is planned and carried out by groups of people in a systematic fashion. The 1919 World Series is a prime example of organized crime. The 1919 World Series is a scandal when eight players from the Chicago White Sox threw the world series. In the novel, The Great Gatsby, Gatsby says to Nick that Meyer Wolfshiem plays a big role in fixing the 1919 World Series. For example, Gatsby says “Meyer Wolfshiem? No he’s a gambler. Gatsby hesitated then added coolly: He’s the man who fixed the World’s Series back in 1919”(Fitzgerald pg 112). Meyer Wolfshiem definitely took a part of organized crime because he had a hand in fixing the world series and that was an organized crime.This is very important to the novel because Meyer Wolfshiem is Jay Gatsby’s relation to organized crime. The 1919 World Series also shows how corrupt some things were back then. For example, after hearing what Meyer Wolfshiem had done Nick asks, “Why isn’t he in jail?”(Fitzgerald pg 112). Gatsby then replies saying, “They can’t get him Old Sport. He’s a smart man”(Fitzgerald Pg 112). The police couldn’t get enough evidence to get
Organized crime was what helped develop the glamour and extremely wealthy lifestyles displayed throughout the Great Gatsby. The big parties, nice clothes, and fancy cars were often a part of the lives of those involved in organized crime. It is also organized crime that allowed people to get ahold of alcohol during the Prohibition. As well, organized crime is what caused great scandals like the 1919 World

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