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How Did F Scott Fitzgerald Use Prohibition In The Great Gatsby

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When it comes to breaking laws such as, “speeding”, for example, a lot of us do not even realize that we are doing is “wrong”. In wanting to reach our destination quicker, we are often blinded to the fact that the reason in which going over the speed limit is illegal is because we are putting the lives of ourselves and those who are on the road in danger. During prohibition in the 1920s, there was a lot of black market sale of alcohol despite the ban on it. The way in which the law of prohibition was avoided is accurately portrayed in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby”

Temperance, The 18th amendment, or best known as prohibition was a constitutional amendment that was passed in 1920 banning the sale of alcohol in the United States. …show more content…

Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby”, most importantly the main character, Jay Gatsby. In an attempt to see an ex-girlfriend that he has never fallen out of love with, Gatsby throws frequent parties in hopes of her attending. These parties were very outrageous. The narrator, Nick, states that, “At least once a fortnight a corps of caterers came down with several hundred feet of canvas and enough colored lights to make a Christmas tree of Gatsby’s enormous garden. On buffet tables, garnished with glistening hors d’oeuvre, spiced baked hams crowded against salads of harlequin designs and pastry pigs and turkeys bewitched to a dark gold.” Although the general outrageousness of the parties were meant to attract attendees, the main attraction was the ample amount of alcohol provided at these parties which is shown when Nick states that, “In the main hall a bar with a real brass rail was set up, and stocked with gins and liquors and with cordials so long forgotten that most of his female guests were too young to know one from the other.” In this text, Fitzgerald is showing the reader that Gatsby, who does not drink due to seeing a past friend typically intoxicated, does not give much thought to the law as he throws these parties despite the current

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