This article examines the topics of increased crim Essays

This article examines the topics of increased criminal activity as a result of the prohibition act that was passed in the 1920s. Americans resorted to criminal activity in hopes of making money which contributed to the already increasing rate of organized crime and violence that plagued the country. Hypocritical governments and corrupt police were prone to taking bribes and gang wars were common, most notably the gang wars revolving around the infamous Al Capone. This article is a credible source as it was written by Rodney Carlisle a professor at the Rutgers University in New Jersey. Carlisle has a PhD in history from the University of California and earned an AB in history from the prestigious Harvard College which proves that Carlisle has an extensive knowledge of American history, the 1920s included. This article is immensely useful when it comes to studying the themes of The Great Gatsby. The article covers what life was like back in the 1920s and just how much crime and bootleg ging influenced Gatsbys fortune. The concept of the American Dream is as stated: The American Dream is set of ideals stating that in the United States freedom includes opportunities to obtain prosperity, success, and upward social mobility through hard work no matter what an individuals racial, religious, or economic background is.. Based on this ideology, the American Dream is all about working hard to be able to achieve prosperity and success. However, bootlegging and gang violence are nowhere near this ideology, in fact they are the twisted perversion of the American Dream that is portrayed by Fitzgerald in The Great Gatsby. Fitzgeralds portrayal of the American Dream with the characters in the novel would have to be the extravagantly hollow, upper class individuals who spend tremendous amounts of money in hopes of enhancing their personal image or persona that they wish the world to view them with. The article looks at this indirectly as most gangsters who were bootlegging at th e time, such as Al Capone made a fortune of money, much like Gatsby. Capone used this money to purchase elaborate cars and furniture similarly to how Tom and Gatsby spend their money in order to look more wealthy and achieve more status in hopes of achieving their ultimate dream. Fitzgerald also portrays how the American dream has degraded and become unachievable for the poor by including characters such as George Wilson as these characters are broken from the long hours of labour they endure.