Social Issues In The Great Gatsby

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”So we beat on,boats against the current,borne back ceaselessly into the past”(Fitzgerald,180) The 1920s was also known as The “Roaring twenties” because of the exuberant lifestyles of Americans. A part of these exuberant lifestyles was going to pubs and drinking illegal alcohol and dancing the night away. The main political issue in the”Roaring twenties” was the prohibition of alcohol. The book The Great Gatsby gives it’s readers a good view on the prohibition of alcohol and how Americans easily got around this law. The prohibition of alcohol caused many of Americans to rebel and act out towards the government. Many Americans made their own alcohol and became known as “bootleggers” and would sell alcohol to other Americans to make a profit. …show more content…

The 18th amendment is the prohibition of alcohol and the women of America were beyond happy when this law got placed because they got their husbands back for a while until bootlegging became a thing in America. Many American men would get drunk after work and would not come home to their families and this made women extremely depressed and angry. To continue there were many social issues during the “Roaring twenties”. One main social issue of the “Roaring twenties” were the rise of the flappers. From All about Flappers it states that “FLAPPERS were northern, urban, single, young, middle-class women. Many held steady jobs in the changing American economy....Increasing phone usage required more and more operators...But the flapper was not all work and no play.”Flappers were women that wanted to stand out and be independent. Flappers usually cut there hair short and wore short skirts and this was an extreme social issue because some people did not agree with the flappers ways. Flappers engaged in alot of dancing so you can see why men usually did not have a problem with flappers and why women …show more content…

The "American Dream" of the 1920s was not really accomplished by many Americans because everyone focused on fitting in and not what really matter. You see this alot in The Great Gatsby , for example in the book it states “ I lived at West Egg, the – well, the least fashionable of the two, though this is a most superficial tag to express the bizarre and not a little sinister contrast between them. My house was at the very tip of the egg, only fifty yards from the Sound, ...a partial view of my neighbor's lawn, and the consoling proximity of millionaires—all for eighty dollars a month.” (Fitzgerald,14) This quote describes Nicks social class and it talks about how much money you had reflected upon your house. The great Gatsby focuses on the "American Dream" through characters and you get a glimpse of the “"Roaring Twenties"lifestyle and how individuals attempted to accomplish their american

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