How Did F Scott Fitzgerald Use Prohibition In The Great Gatsby
Isabel Sendra
Mrs. Marullo
English I
17 January 2011
The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald illustrates the social rejection of the Prohibition in the 1920s. Prohibition, the ban on the sale and consumption of alcohol, made millionaires out of bootleggers like Gatsby in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel. F. Scott Fitzgerald was driven to write many novels because of his love for Zelda. Great Gatsby, a novel written by Fitzgerald, portrayed the lavish lifestyle of the rich in the 1920s and their ignorance toward Prohibition. Congress proposed Prohibition during World War I as the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution. In January 1919, the amendment became part of the Constitution (Yancey). It prohibited the manufacture, …show more content…
Bootleggers were people who illegally manufactured, sold, or smuggled alcohol. In the period of Prohibition, bootlegging increased greatly. The earliest bootleggers smuggled foreign-made alcohol into the United States from bordering nations. Bootlegging is also a type of organized crime. Liquor was no longer legally available; so the public turned to criminal groups who managed the bootlegging industry and supplied them with alcohol (Hillstrom). Criminal groups also provided alcohol at speakeasies. Speakeasies were illegal drinking spots that sprang up in astonishing numbers after the government closed down bars and saloons in 1920. In order to get inside, a person had to whisper a code word to the doorman. They were usually set up in secret places such as basements, attics, warehouses, and apartment houses. A type of speakeasy that was usually hidden behind a legitimate business was a blind pig. Blind pigs were often small, dinghy, and crowded. Nightclubs, another type of speakeasy, were usually roomier and offered food, music, and dancing. F. Scott Fitzgerald’ fascination with the anti-Prohibition movement played a major part in his book, The Great Gatsby
Mrs. Marullo
English I
17 January 2011
The Great Gatsby The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald illustrates the social rejection of the Prohibition in the 1920s. Prohibition, the ban on the sale and consumption of alcohol, made millionaires out of bootleggers like Gatsby in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel. F. Scott Fitzgerald was driven to write many novels because of his love for Zelda. Great Gatsby, a novel written by Fitzgerald, portrayed the lavish lifestyle of the rich in the 1920s and their ignorance toward Prohibition. Congress proposed Prohibition during World War I as the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution. In January 1919, the amendment became part of the Constitution (Yancey). It prohibited the manufacture, …show more content…
Bootleggers were people who illegally manufactured, sold, or smuggled alcohol. In the period of Prohibition, bootlegging increased greatly. The earliest bootleggers smuggled foreign-made alcohol into the United States from bordering nations. Bootlegging is also a type of organized crime. Liquor was no longer legally available; so the public turned to criminal groups who managed the bootlegging industry and supplied them with alcohol (Hillstrom). Criminal groups also provided alcohol at speakeasies. Speakeasies were illegal drinking spots that sprang up in astonishing numbers after the government closed down bars and saloons in 1920. In order to get inside, a person had to whisper a code word to the doorman. They were usually set up in secret places such as basements, attics, warehouses, and apartment houses. A type of speakeasy that was usually hidden behind a legitimate business was a blind pig. Blind pigs were often small, dinghy, and crowded. Nightclubs, another type of speakeasy, were usually roomier and offered food, music, and dancing. F. Scott Fitzgerald’ fascination with the anti-Prohibition movement played a major part in his book, The Great Gatsby