The Great Gatsby

Essay by nuckingfigg3rHigh School, 11th gradeB+, March 2008

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The book The Great Gatsby was related to the Roaring Twenties and how life was changing and the way society was greatly being altered. The three main things that had to do with the book and the twenties were the changing role of women, ban of alcohol prohibition, and wealth and materialism. These three things had a great impact with life in the Twenties and how the book was written.

During the Twenties women’s role in life was greatly changing. Women in the Nineteen Twenties were supporting themselves and were not ordinary house wives or supported by there husbands. Women smoked cigarettes in public, they spit on the ground, and they were loud and showy. Women did not view men as greater than them but as equals. In the book one good example of these women was Jordan Baker, she was loud, pushy, and had short hair and she also played golf.

Also Daisy was like these women by having an affair with Gatsby. When attending parties at Gatsby's house, women are intoxicated to the point where they can no longer walk, or think properly. The women are said to have ripped their dresses, jumped in the fountains and danced wildly. Society for women was changing a lot in the Twenties.

Around the Twenties prohibition was an important part. It was a ban on the sale, manufacturing, and distribution of alcohol. During prohibition organized crime was growing in popularity to make bootlegged alcohol to sell to people who wanted to drink. This organized crime business became so big people were making billions of dollars and it was hard to enforce ban on alcohol. One example of making a lot of money of this business in the book was Gatsby he was involved in this business and had a lot of money. Prohibition was a big part of the Roaring Twenties.

During the Roaring Twenties people made a lot of money in different ways such as stock market and bootlegging. People liked to show off their wealth by having expensive cars, huge houses, and have access to alcohol. Being wealthy at this time could get you out of many things by bribing police or having high authority connections. The characters in this book live for money and were controlled by money. Love and happiness cannot be bought no matter how much money they had. Tom and Daisy were married and even had a child, but they both still had affairs. If you had a lot of money you would think high of yourself and look down on the poor. In the book an example of these people were Gatsby and Tom. Gatsby had an enormous house, expensive cars, and had extravagant parties were people indulged in alcohol, still with all this wealth he never won daisy over and she later found out how he got his wealth and hated him even more. Tom had an expensive car he would drive around to show off his upper class. Tom and Gatsby thought highly of themselves.

The Roaring Twenties and The Great Gatsby had many things in common such as wealth and materialism, prohibition, and the changing role of women. Theses things had all been seen in the Twenties and were a huge part of life during the Twenties and how the books story was written.