The Immorally rich people of the 1920s

   Texas Guinan, the notorious “Queen of the Underworld” during the 1920’s, had never killed anyone. But just because a person hasn’t taken another human life certainly does not mean that he/she is a saint. Texas Guinan’s immorality was much more subtle, for she was loved by the newspapers and the general public, often said to be a very charming, witty, and intelligent lady. But nevertheless, Texas Guinan was still a criminal, having made her fortune through bootlegging, maintained through mobster connections and support. When the police would come down hard on Texas’ nightclubs/speakeasies and arrest her, Texas merely paid the hefty bails through her vast amounts of money, and went back to managing her many nightclubs. This subtle type of immorality is described several times in “The Great Gatsby”, most notably, of Jordan Baker’s little scandal in a big golf tournament. In the quote (p.62) “The thing approached the proportions of a scandal  -then died away. A caddy retracted his statement and the only other witness admitted that he might have been mistaken”, it is directly insinuated to the reader that Jordan Baker had bribed the caddy and witness to retract their statements about Jordan’s foul play. No matter how small the lies and illegal activities, dishonesty and breaking the law are still immoral acts, and Fitzgerald clearly describes how these sort of indiscretions are rampantly hidden behind the endless money piles of the rich during the 1920’s; the historical figure of Texas Guinan was a perfect example of this. While criminal acts were punishable by the law in the 1920’s, the law itself was often a source and factor of the corruption and greed for more money.

   Corrupt politicians greedy, for more money and power, have always been punished whenever found, but during the 1920’s, one infamous politician was punished with a mere, one-year jail sentence in his attempt to defraud the USA of millions of dollars. Albert Fall was promoted the Secretary of the Interior, and using his powerful position, he catapulted himself into a life of luxury when he leased US naval reserves to his friends. When this “Teapot Dome” scandal broke out, the president of the US attempted to defend this immoral act by saying that he had approved of this policy of leasing US land to private owners. In “The Great Gatsby”, this corruption in the highest ranks of society was demonstrated when Jay Gatsby was pulled over by a police officer for speeding, but was not charged due to his supposed “favor” for the police chief commissioner, as demonstrated in the quote(p.73) “I was able to do the commissioner a favor once, and he sends me a Christmas cared every year.” This quote, by Jay Gatsby, implies to the reader that the police commissioner was involved in some sort of illegal business, since Gatsby’s one and only profession was completely illegal. Thus, the rich and powerful characters of Jay Gatsby and the city’s police commissioner are both immoral and dishonest characters involved in illegal business, proving that immorality existed among all ranks of the rich and powerful people, regardless of whether or not they were bootleggers, or city police commissioners. Both the police commissioner and the US politician Albert Fall were very rich and influential men, and the consequences of their immorality in the 1920’s, were very small.

   The 1920’s was a time of very little moral values, with the rich and powerful people being the most prime examples of this immorality. In the novel “The Great Gatsby”, one main theme and focus of the novel is upon the lack of moral values openly displayed by wealthy people, who are able to fortify themselves from accusations of immorality with their endless amounts of cash. The three infamous American persons of Al Capone, Texas Guinan, and Albert Fall, are perfect examples of the Fitzgerald’s theme of immorality among the rich and powerful in the 1920’s.