We are told that Gatsby came up from essentially nothing, and that the first time he met Daisy Buchanan, he was “a penniless young man.” His fortune, we are told, was the result of a bootlegging business – he “bought up a lot of side-street drug-stores here and in Chicago” and sold illegal alcohol over the counter.
Gatsby never grew up into money, selling alcohol illegally made him become rich because alcohol was illegal in the 1920s. Having his alcohol at his parties stood for his wealthiness and social class. Other than bootlegging, Gatsby was selling fake bonds to get money.
Apparently, he started off penniless and made his money selling illegal, over-the-counter liquor in his drug-store empire during the first two years of prohibition. Read: Invest in pricey cognac? Kevin Roose, for New York Magazine, calculates that with the low profit margin nature of the bootlegging business.
Tom claims that he and Daisy have a history that Gatsby could not possibly understand. He then accuses Gatsby of running a bootlegging operation.
As the fight escalates and Daisy threatens to leave her husband, Tom reveals what he learned from an investigation into Gatsby's affairs—that he had earned his money by selling illegal alcohol at drugstores in Chicago with Wolfsheim after Prohibition laws went into effect.
Gatsby's tragic flaw is his inability to wake up from his dream of the past and accept reality. His obsession with recapturing his past relationship with Daisy compels him to a life of crime and deceit. He becomes a bootlegger, does business with a gangster, and creates a false identity.
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Challenged at the Baptist College in Charleston, SC (1987) because of "language and sexual references in the book.
Gatsby gains his money by becoming a bootlegger and does so because of Prohibition. Like many, he takes advantage of what is happening in the country and makes it work for him. Gatsby's parties and wealth also play into the consumerism aspects that were taking over the country at the time.
The rumors include that he is a cousin of Kaiser Wilhelm, he went to Oxford, he killed a man, and that he is a German spy. These rumors hang over Gatsby's head throughout almost the entire novel and create a very strange aura around his character.
Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel The Great Gatsby. The character is an enigmatic nouveau riche millionaire who lives in a luxurious mansion on Long Island where he often hosts extravagant parties and who allegedly gained his vast fortune by illicit bootlegging during prohibition in the United States.
Though Gatsby has always wanted to be rich, his main motivation in acquiring his fortune was his love for Daisy Buchanan, whom he met as a young military officer in Louisville before leaving to fight in World War I in 1917.
Eventually, Gatsby won Daisy's heart, and they made love before Gatsby left to fight in the war. Daisy promised to wait for Gatsby, but in 1919 she chose instead to marry Tom Buchanan, a young man from a solid, aristocratic family who could promise her a wealthy lifestyle and who had the support of her parents.
The novel does not say who inherits Jay Gatsby's money at the end. By details that F Scott left behind, we can guess that either the inheritance would go back to his parents or other family members, but not to Daisy. There were no hints that she was set to get the fortune, despite Gatsby being in love with her.
The narrator never mentions the source of these libations, but it could not have been legal. Social drinking was just a regular part of life. Others in the story, despite more modest incomes, enjoyed associating with the wealthiest social class, and consuming alcohol made it easier for some to play the role.
When Cody died, he left Gatsby $25,000, but Cody's mistress prevented him from claiming his inheritance. Gatsby then dedicated himself to becoming a wealthy and successful man. Nick sees neither Gatsby nor Daisy for several weeks after their reunion at Nick's house.
Gatsby created this false identity because Daisy would find appeal to the idea of Gatsby coming from a wealthy family. This is the identity Gatsby creates after his war service. He shows that he is willing to lie before God to reinvigorate Daisy's appeal to him.
The attendees gossip about Gatsby, speculating that he is a German spy, went to Oxford, and even murdered a man. Most of them seem never to have met Gatsby, even though they regularly attend his parties.
Gatsby has two purposes in mind when he calls Nick 'old sport'. First, he is attempting to manufacture the sense of closeness with Nick. Everything that Gatsby does is for Daisy, including his befriending of Nick.
The initial goal of Gatsby's social gatherings was to attract his love interest's attention. Besides, he had to do without being suspicious. So, the purpose of the events disappears once Daisy accepts his affection.
Yet Daisy isn't just a shallow gold digger. She's more tragic: a loving woman who has been corrupted by greed. She chooses the comfort and security of money over real love, but she does so knowingly.
What is ironic about Gatsby's death? Gatsby's death is a moment of irony because he is still waiting for Daisy to call him so they can be together, but he does not realize that Daisy and her husband have already reconciled with one another.
The first betrayal that takes place is Tom's betrayal of Daisy. Tom betrays his wife Daisy when he has an affair with a woman named Myrtle. The second betrayal is Gatsby betraying himself. Jay Gatsby could have easily been a very successful man and could have done a lot of great things with his life.
Australian filmmaker Baz Luhrmann recreated the New York period setting of The Great Gatsby on location in New South Wales with Leonardo DiCaprio when filming incentive support became unavailable in the US. Shooting was based at Fox Studios in Sydney.
Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
Due to themes of death and the fact that the main characters are talking animals, a parent group in Kansas sought to ban the book from their students' school libraries.
The Great Gatsby was challenged and banned for a few reasons: sex, violence, adultery, and language. The affair between Daisy and Gatsby along with Nick's language regarding Jordan Baker make up most of the sex and adultery reasoning behind the challenging and banning of the book.