The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald

Prohibition protestors

Like in The House of Mirth, the setting of this novel plays a very important role in its plot and outcomes.  The Roaring Twenties were a great time of joy in history just before the Great Depression in the 1930's.  The Prohibition was a major cultural concern during this time because many people were dry (for prohibition), while many others were wet (pro-alcohol).  "Bootleggers" (Fitzgerald, page 61) at the time gambled on their businesses with big risks, as the sale or consumption of alcohol was illegal.  Here, I jump to Jay Gatsby because he was kind of a well-known bootlegger, and that's where he made his money to impress and gain back Daisy and her love.  At another time in history, he would not have been able to have this "profession" and possibly would not have been nearly as successful and wealthy.  Let's move on to Daisy, then.  She was also greatly affected by the setting of the novel because she was too scared to divorce Tom for Jay.  While I think divorces should not be taken lightly, I also think that she shouldn't suffer without the man she really loves, just for society's sake.  Most women in the modern world choose to marry the men they love, rather than those society approves of, unlike Daisy who felt she had to marry Tom because she needed strong financial backing and Jay was gone in the war.
      I also think the novel would have ended very differently if it had taken place in a more modern setting because Daisy would have, most likely, known that Tom was cheating on her (with the invention of cell phones and other devices), and people today would have been on her side if she chose to divorce him because of it, unlike society of the 1920's.  Maybe, "Gatsby" (Daisy) would have been able to avoid hitting Myrtle if he had been driving a more modern car, and she possibly could have seen him coming down the street.  Regardless, the police would have been able to track his car almost instantly because of modern devices, invented for doing just that.