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Prohibition In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

3743 Words15 Pages

Great Gatsby is a reflection of the hedonistic period of the roaring 20’s, when America’s surging economic prosperity compelled a generation of lavish parties, pleasure-seeking, and recklessness. In frame with this new found opulence emerged the prohibition experiment, which under the 18th amendment, banned the consumption of alcohol. However, the congress' new investment soon took a turn in a felonious direction. Prior to the prohibition, liquor ran like water and nearly three gallons of alcohol was consumed by an individual, annually. Alcohol flowed like honey and spread freely to every American, turning the United States into an alcohol-addicted nation. So when the sudden prohibition of what was essentially “America’s water” occurred and …show more content…

During the time period in which “The Great Gatsby” was written, prohibition was set in order to protect individuals and families from “the scourge of drunkenness”. According to Merriem Webster, “Prohibition is the forbidding by law of the manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcoholic liquors except for medicinal and sacramental purposes.” (Webster, 2024) Back then, alcohol was and still is a dangerous substance, and drunkenness proved unholy and abusable. For instance, in Galatians 5 verse 19-21 it states, “The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (NIV Bible, Galatians 5:19-21) For thousands of years, the Bible has served as the guideline to determine the righteousness of an act and has set the rules of morality for human beings. To elaborate, the main source of truth (the Bible) has denounced drunkenness, so it is apparent that the overdose of alcohol in the novel proves a sinful nature that is unquestionably virtueless. Nevertheless, many non-believers might have concerns about the validity of the statement as they themselves do not believe in the Bible and cannot prove the truth of the Word. But the Bible has been supported by many, living human beings, who have shaped the world. Such as famed philosopher and political theorist John Locke, whom in the 1700s stated, “It [the Bible] is all pure, all sincere; nothing too much, nothing wanting; but such a complete Rule of Life, as the wisest Men must acknowledge, tends entirely to the Good of Mankind, and that all would be happy, if all would practice it.” (Locke, 1727, p. 536) Furthermore, even Sir Isaac Newton has backed the Bible, when

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