The Prohibition Era was one of wildly divided popular opinion with respect to the value of prohibition laws. While the rural and agrarian sections of the nation generally supported prohibition laws, the urban centers on the coasts and in the midwest ignored the laws. In cities such as New York, Chicago, and Detroit, liquor flowed in quantities greater than before prohibition. In many instances, alcohol was supplied by organized crime syndicates. Otherwise law-abiding citizens of all classes willingly paid the asking price - for the great irony of the prohibition laws was that while it was illegal to sell, manufacture, or distribute alcoholic beverages - those same beverages were legal to consume.
With the hypocrisy of prohibition as a backdrop, it is more than appropriate that Gatsby made the fortune that he thought would reignite Daisy's love for him, by profiting from ignoring an ill-conceived law. At the same time, Gatsby engages in the ill-conceived romantic notion that his wealth will somehow make him an equal with Tom Buchanan and the "old money" types of East Egg. It is here that Fitzgerald unfolds, through Nick's narrative, the hypocrisy, dishonesty, racism, sexism, and class bias of the upper class. Nonetheless, though Gatsby sees the hypocrisy, he is blinded by his love for Daisy, and ultimately dies in pursuit of his romantic dream, while Daisy and Tom continue to live their hypocritical lives with few negative consequences.
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