How Does Prohibition Affect The Great Gatsby

Prohibition ran from January 16, 1920 to December 5, 1933. During this period, having an alcoholic drink in your possession, as well as distributing any such drinks was against the law and you would be arrested if caught doing so. However it did not stop people from drinking, instead they just found places where they could, such as speakeasies where they could buy beer, liquor, moonshine, etc all while under the nose of the police. Many people that drank during the prohibition were extremely well off money wise and respected people. The Great Gatsby has its fair share of illegal activities, drinking being the most common law broken since the characters were always either drinking, going to a party to drink, or already drunk. Prohibition is

We never learn much about how he made his money, though we can see that it was connected to bootlegging, crime, and Prohibition.” (Dickstein, Morris.). Gatsby is first portrayed as a very mysterious character and people spread many rumors about him which lead many to believe that he was connected to bootlegging and made his money illegally. This lead to many reputations to be dirtied. Drinking can negatively affect how society looks at someone as a person and their character. “Behind this drive to prohibition lay a belief in human perfectibility, the conviction that drunkenness squandered family income and was therefore evil.” (Heller,Peter B.). People were seen in a negative perspective if they were always drinking or getting drunk even though drinking was a common theme back then. Drinking also had greatly increased negative aspects by increasing crime throughout the world. “Arrests for law violations associated with Prohibition increased by 102 percent.” (Gilliam, Jay.). Everyone was selling alcohol and going to jail so eventually they had to abolish prohibition. Alcohol was a common theme during parties but mostly has negative outcomes and effects on the characters life. There were other factors that alcohol had a major impact on. The ban on alcohol caused many resistances and rebels. “Prohibition created a natural market for organized crime, as groups of men who had long fought one another over