Effects Of Prohibition In The Great Gatsby

There are unintended consequences for exploring new things. Some of these consequences are unavoidable to this day. In the novel The Great Gatsby the characters are influenced by prohibition and alcohol. The plot of the novel is affected heavily by the characters use and misuse of the substance.

Prohibition is the act of prohibiting the manufacturing, storage in barrels, bottles, transportation and sale of alcohol including alcoholic beverages in the United States from 1920 to 1933 enforced by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution, known as the Volstead Act. The “ important experiment “ was undertaken in order to reduce crime and corruption , fix social problems, decrease the tax burden created by prisons and poorhouses and finally

The outlaw of alcohol failed and made the desire for it much more powerful. Gatsby took advantage of the demand and setup pharmacies selling bootlegger alcohol. This action led to Gatsby becoming filthy rich. In addition to wealth, Gatsby used his wealth to acquire fame by hosting numerous parties where he supplied a steady stream of alcohol and music. This ensured his popularity in society on West egg. Furthermore prohibition caused additional family problems as evidenced in the novel. Gatsby ability to throw extravagant parties in order to gain Daisy’s attention and affection caused a bitter loved triangle resulting in Gatsby’s death. Equally important was the constant physical and verbal abuse experienced by Daisy Buchanan at the hands of her jealous husband Tom.In the novel Gatsby the author shows through the characters Daisy and Jordan, their feelings toward drinking alcohol. They enjoy drinking as Daisy becomes flirtatious with men and in the first chapter she says ‘I’m paralyzed with happiness’. Also Daisy turned to drinking when she has to make a difficult decision whether to marry Tom Buchanan. While under the influence of the alcohol she let out her feelings she wanted to cancel the wedding then she “cried and cried” for Gatsby. Nick a very reasonable and conservative man wakes up at Pennsylvania Station waiting for the train at 4:00 am his memory a blur barley unable to recall the events of the party but

Gatsby founded that on his own working under his friend Dan Cody. (He was employed in a vague personal capacity—while he remained with Cody he was in turn steward, mate, skipper, secretary, and even jailor, for Dan Cody sober knew what lavish doings Dan Cody drunk might soon be about and he provided for such contingencies by reposing more and more trust in Gatsby. The arrangement lasted five years during which the boat went three times around the continent. It might have lasted indefinitely except for the fact that Ella Kaye came on board one night in Boston and a week later Dan Cody inhospitably died. I remember the portrait of him up in Gatsby’s bedroom, a grey, florid man with a hard empty face—the pioneer debauchee who during one phase of American life brought back to the eastern seaboard the savage violence of the frontier brothel and saloon. It was indirectly due to Cody that The Great Gatsby drank so little. Sometimes in the course of gay parties women used to rub champagne into his hair; for himself he formed the habit of letting liquor alone. Planet Ebook .com/ebooks/The Great Gatsby.pdf Page 107-108.) Gatsby realized how alcohol can change someone's personality. They become a completely different person for when you know them normal. Their actions also change when there under the influence of alcohol, that why Gatsby decide to stay away from alcohol in the first