Social Changes In The Great Gatsby

The “roaring twenties” was a rather robust era in American history in which society changed significantly. With the recent passing of prohibition and the newly won nineteenth amendment, which allowed women to vote, ideas began to emerge and materialize. Women became “free” and certain people began to undertake the practice of bootlegging certain illegal substances such as liquor. Many people were able to become wealthy nearly overnight as a direct result of bootlegging liquor and the stock market. It was the first time in American society that wealth was at everyone 's fingertips. World War One had just ended and the economy began to grow at an exponential rate. This was the point in time in which people began to live the “American Dream.” One man in particular took advantage of this period of prosperity and social change and made a name for himself, although all he did was ultimately in vain. He is the protagonist of The Great Gatsby and a physical representation of the “New Money.” His name is, Jay Gatsby. The 1920s was a birth of new opportunities and prosperity for America. The presidents at the time believed that because the nation was doing so well they should do nothing and became known as the do-nothings. Jay Gatsby arose from an impecunious childhood in North Dakota and from the beginning he despised poverty and longed for wealth and finesse. For Jay Gatsby, it was not so much that he wanted to become …show more content…
Until Gatsby’s final breath, he was thinking of Daisy, everything he had done was to win over Daisy. Everything that Gatsby did was to try to recreate the past, when he and Daisy were both in love. Jay Gatsby was able to accomplish all of this because of the period of prosperity and social changes experienced in the 1920s that led to his flamboyant, dream-like lifestyle which tragically and ultimately ended in his