What was life like in the U.S. at the time of
The Great Gatsby?
The 1920’s, often romanticized as the Roaring Twenties, were a time of jazz, flapper, and economic boom.
Beneath the glamour lurked a dark underbelly of organized crime fueled by Prohibition.
Bootleggers like Al Capone and Jack “Legs” Diamond became larger than life figures who defied the law and shaped American culture.
Initial fights against Prohibition: The BOI investigated and arrested hundreds of bootleggers in the first years of the dry law (269 arrests only in the first 6 months), although later their role was reduced by the creation of a special Bureau of Prohibition.
Legs Diamond was a famous gangster in the 1920’s, he didn’t live in a miserable, overcrowded neighborhood, nor did he have to face the problems and limitations that newcomers from Europe had to confront.
During his youth he was in a juvenile reformatory.
Diamond accumulated more than 20 arrests, but he walked away mostly unscathed each time.
“And I like large parties. They’re so intimate. At small parties there isn’t any privacy.”
― The Great Gatsby
In conclusion, the 1920’s saw the rise of organized crime because of the prohibition of alcohol and the rise of new money. Gatsby was always at a party. This shows the rise of new money and the continuous illegal economy about alcohol.
CITATIONS
Database:
“The 1920s: Law and Justice: Overview.” American Decades, edited by Judith S. Baughman, et al., vol. 3: 1920-1929, Gale, 2001. Gale eBooks, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3468300850/GVRL?u=fairfaxcps&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=3ad5a4a6. Accessed 9 Mar. 2026.
Website:
“Title: 1920’s: Law and Justice Overview ”
Author: Judith S. Baughman
https://themobmuseum.org/blog/jack-legs-diamond-the-clay-pigeon-of-the-underworld/ Accessed: 9 March 2026.