Wolfshiem and Rothstein

"The Great Gatsby," consists of many characters that represents one aspect of the 20s. One of these important characters is Wolfshiem, one Gatsby's associates. Wolfshiem is a character that symbolizes one of the biggest frauds of the time. Wolfshiem is a character that stands to show one of the most infamous characters of the 20s, someone who has fixed the World Series so that he could earn a lot of money for himself, named Rothstein. Even though he was never indicted by the grand jury he still is known as the one person who was able to fix the World Series and the "Black Sox Scandal" is known by many. A good example how everyone agrees on this is that Gatsby introduces this Wolfshiem as, "the man who fixed the World Series" and all readers understand that he is actually Rothstein, not Wolfshiem.

It has almost been 2 months since I have finished reading "The Great Gatsby." After finishing the book and looking deeper into it, I was intrigued by the lifestyles in the 1920s. Later on, I heard about a new TV series starting on HBO, named "Boardwalk Empire." It was about, life during the Prohibition and about an alcohol smuggler/treasurer, named Enoch Johnson. I later found out also that this series was inspired from a true story. Since the first episode, I have been hearing the name Rothstein, but I never really heeded this name since this week. I only realized Wolfshiem and Rothstein were the same characters when the subject of fixing the World Series came up. Rothstein sits at a barber and his associate comes up and asks him to do something for him which Rothstein says can not be done. Therefore this associate responds by telling him that he rigged the World Series; he could do anything.

Now this does not seem like an interesting topic but when you come to think of it, it is enough puzzle. Because you know how notorious Rothstein actually is. He plays a role in a book that was published in 1925 and he also plays a role in the TV shows that airs in our day. Talk about versatility. I was both surprised to Rothstein in Boardwalk Empire and also very intrigued about him and what he had done. Therefore I did a research and learned more about the "Black Sox Scandal." It is quite entertaining to learn about the 1920's America, where "Outlaws became kings."