Personal Narrative

Personal Narrative

Jackson McKnight
English 3
Mrs. Campbell
4-30-13
Exploring the Roaring Twenties
The 1920’s were a time full of happiness and emotion, now known as the “roaring twenties.” People felt as if they were free and could do anything they set their minds to. Political change was approaching, and our country tried many tactics to promote this, some beneficial and others repealed and forgotten after few years. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald realistically demonstrates qualities of this time through telling the story of Nick Carraway and his experiences with Gatsby (Shmoop Editorial Team). A few qualities that are clearly presented by Fitzgerald are prohibition, carelessness with money, and changing roles of women. Though these were not even close to the only attributes of this time and age, they are clearly presented in the novel and helped the time period of the story become evident.
In 1920, the eighteenth amendment was passed. This banned the making and selling of intoxicating beverages. The period lasted almost 14 years. The illegal production and sale of alcohol (known as bootlegging), illegal drinking spots, and rise in gang violence along with other crimes led to the 21st amendment, which repealed the 18th and ended the prohibition age(“18th and 21st amendments”). However, prohibition was a hard law to enforce. In the book, Jay Gatsby is a bootlegger. This is how he gets all of his money, and is able to throw parties and buy his wonderful house. If you pay attention, there are people drinking at parties or at dinner in almost all chapters. Drinking is alluded to all throughout the book, even though this is the prohibition era and it was illegal. This is an example of how people were free spirited and didn’t feel contained by any government force. Their carelessness would come back to haunt them later, however.
Though $1 is always worth $1, the purchasing power fluctuates through the ages. What would have cost one dollar in the twenties would now cost...

Similar Essays