Research Paper: God, Gold, and Gatsby: Capitalism as the Preeminent American Religion
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” — U.S. Constitution, First Amendment
“It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their interest.” — Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations
“‘God sees everything,’ repeated Wilson.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
Before the birth of the United States, Christianity, kings, and feudalism ruled the Western world, leaving little room for religious and economic liberties and pushing dreamers to the American colonies in search of freedom, both spiritual and financial. In England, the ongoing war on religion ostracized Pilgrims, leading them to establish theocratic townships in the New World. At the same time, settlements like Jamestown were founded to generate agriculture-based economies rooted in early forms of capitalism. Over time, these distinct intentions merged, blurring the line between faith and finance in American culture. This synthesis is rooted in the cultural and historical anomalies that inspired the founding of our nation, most notably, the First Amendment’s promise of church-state separation: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof” (U.S. Const. Amend I). While this cause was meant to preserve the freedom of belief, it left a spiritual chasm quietly filled by capitalism. This secular ‘religion’ mirrors organized faith, offering a god-like omnipresence in American life. Since then, we have followed the dollar so religiously that it feels patriotic; the governing religion of the United States is not Christianity—it is Capitalism. F. Scott Fitzgerald chronicled the phenomenon during the Jazz Age in The Great Gatsby, highlighting how our nation’s material devotion has altered the foundational values.
Capitalism emerged during an era of political upheaval and shifting world powers. Enlightenment thinking and philosophers such as John Locke empowered individuals to petition for revolutions, marking a historical departure from traditional authority systems and liberties. The economic system, originally proposed by Adam Smith’s 1776 book, The Wealth of Nations, argued that economies benefited from the lack of governmental intervention, which he referred to as Laissez-Faire policies. As Smith stated in his book, “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from the regard to their interest” (Smith). Smith’s assertion encapsulates the central tenet of capitalism: the pursuit of individual gain. This economic system took the Western world by storm, effectively stimulating the shift from colonial mercantilist economics to a freer market for freer thinkers. These enlightened individuals became vindicated by the loss of the political power of the church as new principles called for the shift from the Age of Faith to the Age of Reason. In this sense, capitalism became a substitute for religion in many modernized societies, as its traits are both “physical and metaphysical,” including icons and symbols such as the dollar and the idea of credit. “As exchange values are abstract concepts, money solely constitutes the physical face of capitalism” (Thoby). Enlightenment thought posed capitalistic upward mobility as a form of earthly salvation, akin to an ascension to Heaven: “it is a system combining norms, values, divinities, and laws,” reforming people’s lives through science and democracy (Thoby).
In 1776, the United States declared independence, paralleling the year of Smith’s book. This alignment underscores American pursuits through Manifest Destiny and imperialism, to the rags-to-riches trope, encouraging American citizens to become enamored and in constant pursuit of the accumulation of wealth, power, and freedom. This “barbarian success religion” celebrates an economic advancement narrative to the point of worship (Paul). Upward mobility was a novel concept when the idea of being self-made originated. Before it, citizens were bound by the constraints of monarchies, feudalism, and predetermined status; the American promotion of these new concepts supported a unique sense of competition, culture, and socioeconomic restructuring (Paul). The enlightened principles infiltrating the Founding Fathers’ vision of “individualism, property, or materialism, competition, and independence” have propelled “beliefs in the individual rather than the community, shaping our political and economic system” (Lupsha). These enlightened values shaped the way that America created a capitalist religion. “Our values and the needs of our popular political institutions permit the creation of alternative ethical codes, and thus our values can be turned upside down” (Lupsha). The Founding Fathers indirectly planted the seeds of capitalist discontent through the loose individualism that encourages excess materialism at the expense of our religious integrity. Last year, the U.S. collectively spent more than $18 trillion, dominating the charts in statistics on consumer spending—the second place, falling behind at $7 trillion, was China, a country with about one billion more citizens than the U.S. (Consumer Spending by Country 2024). This staggering statistic displays how intertwined materialism and national identity are for Americans, proving materialism and overconsumption to be ingrained rituals.
The Roaring ‘20s economy depicted in The Great Gatsby highlighted this transformation as American pursuits shifted from imperialistic growth and a collective vision of enlightenment to personal pleasure and the boundless quest for wealth. Because of the technological improvements occurring since WWI, American citizens became reliant on consumer-driven commodities rather than production-based products that were previously homemade. This innovation spread worldwide, and American companies found ways to produce great wealth and prosperity within the US. This era of financial excess, coined as the Jazz Age by Fitzgerald, inspired an American literary revolution where authors created novels describing cultural and psychological American identities. “The American 20th-Century novel is both post-Christian and non-religious as it is literature for a secular society” (Mueller). Americans were becoming displeased and disenchanted with the effects of capitalism upon the nation: though the economy was flourishing and all seemed to glimmer, wealth inequalities were at an extreme, religion and values were missing, and national identity became confused beneath the facade of affluence. The American upper class was increasingly hedonistic and obsessed with aesthetics, out of touch with politics, instead focusing on superficial means to satisfy human desires (Rule-Maxwell). Americans had strayed beyond moral characteristics in their excessive habits, denouncing religion and ethical values in search of fulfillment and frivolity. These characteristics are exemplified in the characters within Fitzgerald’s novel; by delving into their relationships with religion and capitalism, it can be determined to what extent societal decay is at the hands of materialism.
Fitzgerald created narratives and interactions between characters in the book influenced by this capitalistic zealotry. At the center of this, Gatsby’s actions and lifestyle reflect his pious pursuits to fit an upper-class identity and actualize his fantasies about a relationship with Daisy. These patterns of repeated extremities resemble religious rituals, as his devotion to capitalism is all-consuming and extreme. His performative consumption habits, displayed through the luxuries of his grand mansion, cars, wait staff, clothing, and decadent parties, are sacrifices on the altar of capitalism. In his symbolic temple, a grand mansion of extravagance, he commands these ritualistic activities, seeking to redeem himself, all while Daisy watches from across the water. For instance, “every Friday five crates of oranges and lemons arrived from a fruiterer in New York and every Monday these same oranges and lemons left his back door in a pyramid of pulpless halves” (Fitzgerald Chapter 3). This priestly repetition of abundance and waste shows his devotion to spectacle and order, turning food into ritual objects. To Gatsby, capitalism symbolizes salvation, freeing him from the pitfalls of poverty and allowing him to ascend towards his dreams and ambitions. Rather than attending religious services, reading the Bible, or praying—traditional paths to Christian salvation—Gatsby seeks salvation in achieving and wearing a wealthy and impressive lifestyle. His extravagant wardrobe reflects these inward desires: “He took out a pile of shirts, shirts of sheer linen and thick silk and fine flannel, many-colored disarray, shirts with stripes and scrolls and plaids, with monograms of Indian blue” (Fitzgerald Chapter 5). These are not simply clothes but worship garb, visual proof of his dedication to materialistic divinity. Fitzgerald frames Gatsby’s self-creation as a religious rebirth: “Jay Gatsby sprang from his Platonic conception of himself. He was a son of God, and he must be about His Father’s business, the service of a vast, vulgar, and meretricious beauty.” His created identity is emblematic of baptism, and “to this conception he was faithful to the end” (Fitzgerald Chapter 6). Yet Gatsby’s faith in this false salvation is what destroys him. Much like a martyr dead at the hands of faithful causes, Fitzgerald asserts that the idols Gatsby worships in this capitalistic religion—the upper class as embodied by Tom and Daisy Buchanan—are not saints but “careless people who smashed up things and creatures and then retreated into their money or vast carelessness” (Fitzgerald Chapter 9). Gatsby’s devotion to misleading and immoral idols is rooted in illusions, a gilded dream upheld by the shimmer of status, and his death is the tragic result of these religious misbeliefs and the damnation resulting from pursuing false idols.
The Great Gatsby was an outlier from F. Scott Fitzgerald, an author whose earlier novels centered around religious themes, messages, or commentary. He grew up a devout Roman Catholic, attending countless services and knowing much about hagiography, Biblical history, and politics within Catholicism. Fitzgerald’s Catholic upbringing deeply influenced his worldview, particularly in the moral tension he perceived between tradition and the encroaching materialism of contemporary America. Yet in The Great Gatsby, there is little to no mention of overt religious themes. The characters are all Atheists or agnostics, reveling instead in their new-age capitalistic gods rather than the god of the Catholics. These were intentional stylistic choices Fitzgerald used to depict the religiosity of capitalism in the US. The United States’ dominant Protestant ideals—embedded in the government and economy since before the country was founded, such as glorifying capitalistic success, the prosperity gospel, and the virtue of vigorous work—have become an ethical end, replacing traditional religious devotion (Giles). Catholic ideals, which condemned materialistic Protestant-related vices such as greed, idolatry of wealth, and selfishness, clashed with America’s broader consumer culture. This ideological divide positioned Catholics in a stalemate, resisting assimilation into a culture that equated material gain with virtue. Around the turn of the 20th century, when Fitzgerald was drafting his novel, Catholicism had a critical decision to make: to embrace American capitalistic culture or stay true to the values that form its ethical and moral foundations. Fitzgerald existed within this decision and sought to provide a warning for religious Americans; he used the novel to symbolize a society that had traded moral and spiritual integrity for shallow displays of affluence, presenting capitalism as the preeminent American religion.
Throughout his novel, Fitzgerald cites evidence for the deep-rooted connection between capitalism and religion in the United States. This was not incidental; it was part of his overarching critique of the American Dream—a term coined in 1916 to describe American beliefs in meritocracy: “the ideal that every citizen of the United States should have an equal opportunity to achieve success and prosperity through hard work, determination, and initiative” (Oxford English Dictionary). This concept, which was canonized in much of the politics, popular culture, and writings of his contemporaries, encapsulates hundreds of years of American idealism, motives for economic and political movements, and is an integral element to the American capitalistic religion. The Dream embodies everything capitalism promotes: upward economic growth, success, productivity mentality, and self-promotion. This theory, while named during Fitzgerald’s time, reflects a uniquely American motivation that has existed since the Europeans stepped foot on the “fresh, green breast of the new world” (Fitzgerald Chapter 9). The freshness of the land symbolized the original hope and innocence of America while also foreshadowing a sense of defilement that would soon come over the land, sanctioned by capitalism. It explains that colonialism and materialism have the same acquisitive nature, connecting that long before the multinational commercial economy of today, Americans have been obsessed with capitalistic endeavors to a religious degree. Fitzgerald critiques this ideal for its false promise of equal opportunity and how it has elevated material success to a sacred status, creating a nation built on facades of affluence and vain assurance.
The implications of America’s transformation of capitalism into a form of religion left lasting psychological, cultural, and societal effects a century after Fitzgerald exposed it as the failing American Dream. These consumerist tendencies have entrenched Americans in isolation, desperation, and psychological futility. As a result, we now see uniquely American figures like current U.S. President Donald Trump. Before entering politics, Trump was an established businessman, comparable to a Gatsby figure, known for his excessive and glamorous lifestyle and his dreams.“Despite his privileged background, Trump has always styled himself as the brutish nouveau riche, a Gatsby figure of the late 20th century with parties that are always too big and loud, with an appearance that appears too shrill” (McClellan and Gruber). Trump cleverly takes advantage of the American Dream phenomenon, understanding that his citizens swoon to the ever-present religion, he promises a grand departure to financial and cultural renaissances by glorifying the glamor of past eras; specifically in his central campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again.” He has a Pope-like status (i.e., the AI Pope edits the official White House Instagram account posted after Pope Francis’ April 2025 death) as he is the grandmaster of the American capitalistic religion. His loyal supporters (and zealous naysayers) worship his every command, fervently obeying or denouncing his every word or action to a religious degree. In this way, the merging of capitalism and religious imagery that Fitzgerald once critiqued continues to shape American identity and governance today. By working to undermine the Constitution’s First Amendment and supporting a Christian Nationalist agenda, he erodes the separation of powers between church and state, Trump has ingeniously discovered the key to manipulating both spiritual belief and national identity for political gain. These ideals are as relevant as ever, as we continue to see the danger of the combination of the two working in real time, threatening to dismantle the democracy and freedom that provided religious liberty in the first place.
Fitzgerald’s warnings about the spiritualization of materialism and the false promises of the American Dream are more than literary commentary, they are blueprints to understanding the fundamental American psyche. The fusion of capitalism and religion continues to fuel national identity, shaping politics, morality, and culture. Martyrs and Popes such as Gatsby and Trump are not anomalies but products of a culture that worships wealth as a divine virtue. As this process continues to expand, it threatens the integrity of American democracy and the moral foundation on which it was built. In recognizing the prophetic nature of Fitzgerald’s book, Americans are urged to confront the dangerous mythologies that govern our nation, reclaiming a vision of the country grounded in morals, truth, and equity and working to dismiss the illusions of a false religion. Fitzgerald encapsulates this spiritual crisis in an image of George Wilson: blinded by grief, he mistakes T.J. Eckleburg’s billboard for God, looming over the Valley of Ashes like a hollow deity. To him, the eyes replace where traditional religion has lost its hold. His desperate cry— “God sees everything”—reveals the chilling truth at the novel’s core: America’s God is no longer one of scripture, churches, or prayer, but one found in advertisements, wealth, and illusion (Fitzgerald Chapter 8). In this image, Fitzgerald leaves readers to self-reflect, reminding us that the gods we serve reflect our values and in capitalism’s case, offer us no salvation while presiding over our nation’s self-inflicted decline.
Research Paper Cover Letter
This essay is an amalgamation of all I learned this semester, spanning history, current politics, religious beliefs, and my literary analysis of The Great Gatsby. I aimed to create a comprehensive paper that reflects my diverse interests and skills learned in this course.
Initially, I was going to research the prevalence of advertising within the novel, though during research, I realized that there was a much more profound psychological connection between religion and commercialism in the United States, as pointed out by Fitzgerald’s criticism of the American Dream.
I reached a breakthrough in the progression of my argument while sifting through an article about the religious significance of advertising displayed through billboards in the novel; T.J. Eckleburg’s eyes prompted George Wilson to exclaim that “God sees everything.” This connection, alongside other information I had been collecting, inspired my evolved thesis. I chose to end my paper with an analysis of this quote because it inspired my paper and poses a critical question that lingers with readers: What happens when what we worship becomes who we are?
When writing, I thoroughly enjoyed the looser, more chronological order of the paragraphs as they reflect different themes, but each adds context and pivotal analysis and evidence towards my overarching thesis. I enjoyed how I could begin in the 1700s and end the essay with contemporary trends, displaying how these themes have evolved. Essay handouts such as Prelim 10 helped me the most in this sense, making it simplistic to organize my information before I wrote it out and helping provide a coherent and comprehensive launchpad for my essay.
I conveyed motive by showing the deep historical ties between Fitzgerald’s religious upbringing, the context of the Catholic Church in the 1920s, and the current political landscape, explaining why he chose to author the novel. My motive and arguments are significant because they unearth a longstanding phenomenon that has gone overlooked, hidden beneath the surface of everyday life and consumer culture, explaining how this capitalistic religion has infiltrated everyday America.
For my Counterargument and Refutation, I referenced historical and literary evidence from The Great Gatsby and Fitzgerald’s personal life to support the claim that capitalism is an American religion. I ended with a “bait-and-switch” rhetorical style, revealing that Fitzgerald was not only aware of this phenomenon but actively criticized it in his discussion of the American Dream. This move added complexity and strengthened my stance by transitioning from literary analysis to a broader socio-political critique.
I created a complex argument by using historical contextualization, cause-and-effect reasoning, and prophetic framing. These begin in my paragraphs about historical connect and connect to Fitzgerald’s warning to present-day consequences. I finish the essay by suggesting that misunderstanding Fitzgerald’s message could have dire implications for the American Constitution and democracy, emphasizing what is at stake and leaving readers with a sobering call to action.
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