The Great Gatsby
PROHIBITION
Background
The American prohibition was the "great experiment" that the United State's government made the law between the eighteenth and twenty-first amendments. These two amendments enacted and repealed prohibition, respectively. Prohibition had a profound effect on American culture and much more than just drinking. This prohibition of all alcohol regardless of age gave the crime lords a new avenue to pursue and largely conquer. Smuggling alcohol and obtaining it illegally at speakeasies became prevalent and virtually uncontrollable.
Before prohibition, it was considered polite and proper to abstain from drinking large amounts of liquor, instead opting to drink responsibly and retain self-control, especially in public. After prohibition took effect, this long held belief was relinquished in favor of the more liberating acting out- drinking too much and irresponsibly.
Prohibition relates to The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald in the respect that smuggling illegal booze was the way that Jay Gatsby was able to make and sustain his fortune. Many well off people during the 1920s were involved in this underground supply of liquor to speakeasies and other illegal establishments. Meyer Wolfshiem, a Jewish criminal, introduced Gatsby to the lucrative bootlegging industry.
Page last updated on March 5, 1999.
Curator: Jeff Evey