
In the book, “The Great Gatsby”, something that really shows its era is prohibition. Prohibition was the banning of alcohol in most states in the United States from 1920 to 1933. Even though it was banned it was still drank by most in secret bars or at ravishing parties. This book was written and is set in the 1920’s, right in the middle of prohibition. Not only was it during that time but it also plays a big role in the story. Mr. Gatsby secretly sold alcohol and that is where he made most of his fortune. He sold alcohol illegally and provided it at all  of his parties. While this story isn’t based around prohibition and alcohol, it does play a major role. To say the least the book would be completely different without prohibition, nothing would be extravagant because Gatsby wouldn’t have his money. The story would just be a tragic love story. So clearly Prohibition has a major role in, “The Great Gatsby”, and makes the story a whole other level of intriguing, so throughout this paper I will talk about prohibition and its part in the story.  

To understand this story it is important to know some history of prohibition. In the story it never clearly says that he illegally sells alcohol, it’s just something you put together. If you didn’t know of  prohibition there could be many things that wouldn’t make sense. Reading an article of prohibition doesn’t really change my image of the story. I also think that prohibition was so accurately portrayed in the story because it was actually written during that time period. Gatsby having so much money from his secret sales is very ironic considering the country was making no money from alcohol sales. The economy at that time could have used the profit from alcohol sales. What is amazing about prohibition is the chaos it caused, that is all it really did. The, “Social order was replaced by chaos.” People went from being poor to rich, that is exactly what happened to Gatsby. To relate the ban of alcohol in that time, to something today, could be related to weed. Both were or are illegal but not impossible to get. Historically prohibition was a major thing and caused a lot of issues, that is why it stood out to me in this book.

The article I chose is about the consequences of prohibition, and I think that’s all there really was, consequences. President Herbert Hoover called prohibition, “a great social and economic experiment,” as it was. It was a very noble experiment and lasted a lot longer than I would expect, and as expected it failed. The reasoning behind prohibition is that it was thought that people would start spending the money they weren't spending on alcohol on other things. Prohibition had greatly negative effects on the economy. Many jobs were lost and many businesses failed, but worse than that it largely effected government taxes. There were many loopholes to prohibition, it wasn’t illegal to obtain or drink alcohol, it was just illegal to make and sell it. It’s crazy to read about the things people would do to get their hands on some alcohol. They would become pharmacists to get and distribute whiskey, or they would join church to get wine. That is one way how Gatsby sold his alcohol, through drug stores. Due to prohibition many Americans became criminals and the was even more for the government to deal with. This plan to control alcohol abuse only made the problem worse. All of this was very prevalent in the book, people clearly would do anything to have a good time and drink alcohol. It was called the roaring twenties for a reason. So many things were out of control. Much couldn’t be brought back to control either, there wasn’t much the police, who weren’t bought off, could do. Prohibition was a major part of this decade and, “The Great Gatsby”, portrayed it well. 

Throughout the text there are hints that Gatsby gets his money from being a bootlegger but its never really clearly stated. Though it is made quite clear when Tom, Daisy’s husband, fights with Gatsby and calls him out for it and Gatsby doesn’t deny it. When this comes out Gatsby really loses it and it shows that he didn’t want anyone to know, he could feel Daisy slipping away as she learned the truth about him. Gatsby always seems to be so calm and collected and in this part you really seem to see a different side of him. Tom had been looking into Gatsby’s past because he had always been suspicious of the wonderful things everyone hears about Gatsby. Tom refused to believe they were true and dug up some dirt. So many people in this time period were bootlegger and so many weren’t ashamed of it but Gatsby really was. He prided himself off of all of his stories and newfound wealth. He didn’t want anyone to know his past and think less of him, especially Daisy. He seemed to try so hard to keep this from her and so many, that’s why I believe there were so many stories made up about Gatsby. Things like where he went to school, how he grew up, his war past, him killing a man, and how he got his money. Also, Gatsby is always being called any by his servants because he has calls. It is all so secretive and clearly has something to do with his business. His bootlegging was not anything he wanted anyone to know. 

Never is prohibition even mentioned in the story but the story being in that time period you know it is a thing. All the extravagant parties had alcohol and it didn’t seem to be an issue. So right there was a clue that he sold alcohol since it was always so available at his parties. Since the book is not only placed in the 1920’s but written in that same time frame, that could be the reason why. The reason why prohibition isn’t even mentioned, it was a part of every day life back then. It didn’t need to be brought up, that’s how life was. Alcohol was banned and it was commonly illegally sold and that’s the way it was and everyone knew it. That is why I chose this book,it is not just interesting to me but there is so much history there, history in the writing. If this story was written today and alcohol was banned it would continually have to be mentioned throughout the book because it isn’t actually banned in real life. In the end when Gatsby dies all he had worked so hard for was all lost. In the end it didn’t matter how rich he was or how amazing his parties were, when he died no one cared, not even Daisy. He did all of the bootlegging to be something he wasn’t and in the end it resulted in his death. Prohibition may not of caused Gatsby’s death but he would have never been in that situation if he hadn’t made all that money selling illegal alcohol. So not only does prohibition influence this book, but it is a part of it.
