1925: F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby captured an image of the United States in an age of industrial, capitalistic, and political boom. The Roaring ’20s economy depicted in the novel highlighted a new American Dream, no longer rooted in imperialistic growth, individual values, or a shared vision across the nation, but one that revolved around individual pleasures and the accumulation of wealth. Fitzgerald created a story that exhibited the nation’s religious and ideological transformation—where previous Dreams and idols were replaced in the name of progress and profit.

The novel does not exist in a vacuum; it was written during a period when capitalism had shown its face as the ultimate culture shaper, forming a new American identity. The separation of church and state had created a spiritual vacuum, unfamiliar to any major world government, eventually filled by a devotion to capitalism. The characters in the story—Jay Gatsby, Tom Buchanan, and Daisy Buchanan—all represent worshipers and martyrs of the capitalistic faith, sacrificing themselves for wealth, prestige, and status. Fitzgerald wrote this to be a broader commentary on American cultural foundations, acknowledging not only current issues but their historical catalysts.

The excesses of Gatsby’s decadent parties are emblematic of the United States’ history, beginning at the intersection of economic ambition and spiritual yearning. Fitzgerald saw through the dazzling imagery of wealth within his own time and created the novel to contribute to the ongoing concern over the morality and cost of progress within the country.

In the century since the novel’s debut, the warning Fitzgerald issued has only been made more clear for Americans. The book remains not only a reflection of an era but of the entire span of American history. It is a testament to the damage of the United States’ decision to pursue wealth over progress and the moral values derived from religious beliefs and moral convictions missing in capitalism.