WEALTH WITHOUT VIRTUE: THE CORRUPTION OF THE AMERICAN DREAM IN F. SCOTT FITZGERALD'S THE GREAT GATSBY

Abstract

This article examines the transformation and ultimate corruption of the American Dream as depicted in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby (1925). While the novel is widely studied for its critique of material excess, this paper focuses on a dimension that receives comparatively less scholarly attention: the deliberate erasure of personal identity as a precondition for pursuing the Dream. Drawing on close readings of the novel's central characters — Gatsby, Daisy, Tom, and Jordan — and informed by critical frameworks from Michaels (1987), Berman (2001), and Churchwell (2018), this study argues that Fitzgerald presents the American Dream not merely as unattainable, but as inherently self-destructive. The pursuit of wealth, social status, and romantic idealism causes each character to forfeit authentic selfhood in exchange for constructed personas. The findings suggest that Fitzgerald's novel serves as a prescient warning about the psychological and moral costs of a culture that conflates identity with accumulation. The article also situates the novel within its historical moment — the Jazz Age — and draws brief comparisons to contemporary discourses on meritocracy, aspiration, and social mobility.