The Great Gatsby

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The Great Gatsby and the 1920’s

Alcohol was banned in every state, the Woman’s Right Movement flooded cities and The Great Gatsby was published. What do all of these things have in common? All of these events made up one decade, the 1920’s. None of these ’radical’ events were present during World War 1; life was very different and changed in a short amount of time. The “20’s” were a time of free will and revolution. Great examples of these events are told in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald which will help to view the differences in the social changes before and after the war.

Law enforcement was not stable during the 1920’s. In The Great Gatsby, Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby were on the way to meet Jay’s business partner, Wolfshiem, when they were stopped by a police officer. “All right, old sport,” called Gatsby. We slowed down. Taking a white card from his wallet, he waved it before the man’s eyes.

“Right you are,” agreed the policeman, tipping his cap. “Know you next time, Mr. Gatsby. Excuse ME (Fitzgerald 46)!” Before World War 1, Jay would have gotten a ticket. Instead of the policeman giving Jay a ticket, Jay flashed him a white piece of paper and the police officer apologized for interrupting Jay Gatsby and left. This is an example of “crooked cops” in the 1920’s. The police officer did not fulfill his duties, but instead let Jay go because Jay had some sort of authority over the officer. Police officers often abused their authority in the 1920’s. People were often beat by cops that had a different opinion than others. Police officers broke the law by going to illegal speakeasies and drinking because according to the 21st and 18th amendments, alcohol was prohibited during this time.

In The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby is a main character. Jay is a man with a lot of money and no one knows how he came to be so rich. Jay claims to have gotten a large inheritance, but most people believe he was a bootlegger. “He’s a bootlegger,” said the young ladies, moving somewhere between his cocktails and flowers (Fitzgerald 41). A bootlegger is a person who smuggled alcohol around the United States during prohibition. This is how many people made money during this time. Bootlegging and organized crime went hand-in-hand in the 1920’s. “Finest specimens of human molars,” he informed me (Fitzgerald 48).

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