
In F. Scott Fitzgerald’s, The Great Gatsby there are many social indifferences and issues that happen in the text of the book. The novel was written in 1925 and published during the peak of the Roaring 20’s. It is about a man named Jay Gatsby who lives right across the lake from his old lover, Daisy. Gatsby does everything to try to get Daisy’s attention, he throws massive parties and befriend her cousin, Nick, in hopes of her seeing him again. (Fitzgerald 18) All throughout Fitzgerald’s fiction novel, there are many real-life situations that could have easily been happening at that time. Fitzgerald uses examples of once current happenings to appeal to a variety of readers and talk about the social injustices that were happening during the 1920s. At the time of The Great Gatsby’s publication, Prohibition encouraged bootlegging, open sexuality grew more normalized, and social status was all people seemed to care about.

When this novel first came out, it was not getting very many popular reviews. Many people thought it was Fitzgerald’s worst piece of writing yet. He got paid the same amount of money for it to be published as one of his short stories. People were saying “One finishes The Great Gatsby with a feeling of regret, not for the fate of the people in the book, but for Mr. Fitzgerald…” (Reach, Ten Nights On Long Island: The Great Gatsby’s early reviews) To say it was not popular is to say the least. People did not start to understand the genius and beauty behind the novel until after Fitzgerald’s death in 1940.

While Gatsby is known for throwing these grand parties, he is mostly known for having alcohol during the time of Prohibition. Hundreds of people show up to his parties expecting to get drunk off of his alcohol to which he somehow has access. The consumption and distribution of alcohol was taken very seriously during the time of Prohibition even when most people did not agree with it being a law. Prohibition lasted from 1920 through 1933, and made it against the law to buy, distribute, or drink alcohol (all of which Jay Gatsby does). Not only is he breaking the law, but all of his guests are as well. They only use him for the free drinks and a fun time. Gatsby is a bootlegger in this novel therefore giving him quite a lot of access to alcohol to serve to his guests during his parties. (Fitzgerald) Being a bootlegger is not something that was too popular during Prohibition, just because of how much trouble one could get into. The bootlegger could go to jail, pay a large fine, and get all of his alcohol confiscated. It all just depended on how much alcohol one was caught with. Fitzgerald wrote Gatsby in as being a bootlegger because that was relevant at the time being. It wasn’t very popular to have that job, but it was exciting for other people because they could not do that. Gatsby also went to various secret clubs in the book to meet up with other bootleggers and discuss business, which is also something real-life distributers did during this time frame. 

Throughout the novel, there is much separation of social classes. It is very obvious who has money and who does not. The wealthy are looked more highly on while the not so wealthy were placed on the outskirts. The social ladder is not really talked about between characters, but it is rather more of an unspoken understanding between everybody. Jay Gatsby, Daisy, and her husband Tom, are much higher up on the ladder than Daisy’s cousin, Nick. Towards the beginning of the book, Nick goes to visit Daisy and Tom and notices how nice and elegant their house is. Nick says something at one point and says that Daisy smirked, “as if she had asserted her membership in a rather distinguished secret society to which she and Tom belonged.” (Fitzgerald 17) Daisy would never point out the little amount of money Nick has compared to her and Tom, but she does not need to, because it is already known and quite obvious. Social rank plays a big part in this novel and shows how having money can change who a person is. Gatsby’s only real friend in this book is Nick Carraway who is Gatsby’s neighbor.  Nick is somewhat middle-class and is amazed at how much money Gatsby seems to have. All of Gatsby’s other “friends” only use him for his money and free alcohol. During this time period, there was a lot of “new money” to be made by people and Gatsby fell straight into that category. When Gatsby first met Daisy, he was a poor soldier and Daisy was rich. Gatsby knew that Daisy would never marry somebody with no money, so he did everything he could to become wealthy. He figured Daisy would come running back when she heard he had come into some fortune. (Fitzgerald 79) Fitzgerald used what he knew was relevant to this time period and wrote about what he thought people would want to read. 

This award-winning novel appeals to a variety of people. The storyline is beautifully written and a great story for anybody who is looking for a nice read. Fitzgerald was an excellent writer known for having deeper meaning incorporated into his text. Most novels and short stories he wrote had some truth in them about his life and his wife, Zelda. Zelda Fitzgerald was known for having some mental issues and spending some time in multiple doctors’ offices. She ended up dying in an asylum later on in her life. (Fassler, “The Great Gatsby Line That Came from Fitzgerald's Life…”). One of the most popular lines in this novel is when Daisy is talking about her and Tom’s little girl saying, “…and I hope she’ll be a fool—that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.” It is rumored that the line is based on how Zelda Fitzgerald lived her life. 

Prohibition was in place when this was written and to make things interesting, Fitzgerald made the main character is a bootlegger. The author wrote about social class and how money can affect everyone and everything. He felt that if he wrote about current events and what people seemed to be interested in, he would have the next best seller on his hands. These things combined with some of Fitzgerald’s own life experiences are formed to create this classic American novel. Although the book did not start to become popular until after Fitzgerald’s death, “Gatsby” did become known to be one of the best novels in history. 

The reader can conclude that after doing research on the time period, it is obvious that Fitzgerald wrote about what he thought would pull people in. In the book, he wrote about scandal, affairs, bootlegging, and more. Knowing the historical background behind this text can help contribute to the readers’ opinion on everything that happened. It would affect the readers’ interpretation of the text by giving them more to think about and putting themselves in the shoes of the characters. The Roaring Twenties were filled with many new beginnings for that era and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, The Great Gatsby did an excellent job displaying issues that were coming to be.
