Greed In The Great Gatsby Essay

The Hamartia of Greed: The Flaw of the 1920s and The Great Gatsby

Hamartia is a fatal flaw leading to a person’s downfall. The desire for wealth rose greatly during the 1920s after World War I. The standard of living increased in the twenties due to new technology that allowed a greater ability to manufacture and distribute goods (Amidon Lusted). During this time America experienced “the greatest economic expansion in its history” (Gross). Mass production was possible through the assembly line, which allowed for products to be produced faster and more efficiently (Amidon Lusted). Along with mass production, advertisements of the time attracted Americans to buy more products and in order to buy more products, more money was needed (Amidon Lusted).

The extreme desire for luxuries including wealth and alcohol during the 1920s led to a decline of values and a rise of greed as evident in the rise of criminal activity and the characters in The Great Gatsby.

One of the most prominent money driven crimes in the 1920s was the World Series Scandal of 1919. A major figure in organized crime during the twenties named Arnold Rothstein was supposedly responsible for the scandal. Arnold Rothstein was a notorious gambler out of New York who “had a reputation for betting large amounts of money, and once bet $140,000 on a horse and $100,000 on a single throw of the dice” (“Arnold Rothstein”). The character of Meyer Wolfsheim in The Great Gatsby is an allusion to Arnold Rothstein. Gatsby refers to Wolfsheim as “a gambler” and “the man who fixed the World’s Series back in 1919” (Fitzgerald, 73). Wolfsheim is a business associate of Gatsby’s. Arnold Rothstein reportedly paid eight White Sox players to intentionally lose the World Series in order to win a bet ("Black Sox Scandal”). The White Sox were later

Prohibition began in January 1919 with the 18th constitutional amendment forbidding the sales of alcohol in the United States (Gross). Soon after the passing of the 18th amendment, the Volstead Act was passed which banned manufacturing and transporting of alcohol (Gross). Similar to children who rebel when their parents enforce strict rules, the American people demanded alcohol more than ever before and were willing to go to extreme measures for a drink. Gangsters saw the massive demand for alcohol as an opportunity to become rich. They began to manufacture and distribute alcohol to the people in many creative and illegal ways (“Crime”). “Prohibition gave an air of legitimacy to organized crime and turned many small-time operators into millionaires” (“Crime”). Some people produced their own alcohol in their bathtubs called “bathtub gins” (Amidon Lusted). This homemade alcohol had a terrible taste and was often dangerous to consume (Amidon Lusted); however, the people’s greed for alcohol allowed them to forget the awful taste or the dire consequences. Another illegal way people obtained alcohol was going to secret nightclubs that served alcohol called “speakeasies” (Amidon Lusted). These nightclubs required a password for admission, and the customers had to “speak easy” so that the nightclubs would not be found by law enforcement (Amidon Lusted). The most common form of