The Great Gatsby, written by Scott Fitzgerald, is arguably one of the greatest American stories ever written. The novel, written and published in the early 1920s, gives readers a descriptive look into what it was like to be an east coast American during the Roaring Twenties. Through Fitzgerald's novel, we are introduced to the lavish lives of wealthy people during one of the rowdiest periods in American history. We learn through these characters what life was like right after World War I has ended and the period of prohibition began.
In 1920, WWI had just ended and American people were ready to began a new life. People left their homes in small cities and relocated to bigger and more modern cities in America to enjoy a new way of life. Electronics had become a big deal, new flashy cars were being made, women were breaking out of the stereotype of what it was to be a women and alcohol was flowing like water in American homes. It was a wild carefree time and Fitzgerald captured this moment greatly. In the novel, Gatsby threw several parties where people free food and liquor (definitely cant drink on an empty stomach): "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. 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." (S. Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby). Parties like the ones thrown in the novel were often occurrences for he wealth during that time period. When the prohibition laws were passed and alcohol became illegal, alcohol and the need to have it increased because it became something that was hard to get hands on. If you were able to provide your guest with endless alcohol, it increased your popularity amongst your circle, as it did with Gatsby.
