The American dream is depicted by a dreamer who seeks to progress from zero to riches, while gaining love, social status, wealth and power . Those in power, usually involving bribery, describe corruption as dishonest or fraudulent conduct. This applies to the Western world where corruption contributes to the downfall of society. Corruption in society is what causes us to view the nation pessimistically. In the novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald's view of America is negative and his description is that when man only cares about his success, the result is corruption. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald's vision of America is that a dream can be corrupted by one's focus on wealth and expensive possessions. The novel begins with a rich but lonely man who had only one goal: to make himself known. This man's name is Gatsby, Jay Gatsby. He fulfills his desire by throwing spontaneous parties for any number of people, but he has no real friends. Gatsby has a sense of money and keeps buying expensive goods and throwing parties for countless people, only to fulfill his desire to acquire something greater. He is so blinded by his great title that he fails to see that money cannot buy everything. Gatsby's dream “is a naive dream based on the fallacious assumption that material possessions are synonymous with happiness, harmony and beauty” (Fahey, 70). His American dream has been corrupted by the culture of wealth and fortune that surrounds him. For example, when Nick offered to invite Daisy, he did so out of kindness to Gatsby. However, he does not know how to receive a good gesture without the exchange of money. Overjoyed, Gatsby immediately suggests that someone cut Nick's grass with an underground bus...... middle of paper ......itzegerald, 135). Ultimately, Tom is quite saddened by Myrtle's death, not because he loved her as a person, but because he loved having control over her. Now that she is dead, Tom is no longer a man of power because that power has been destroyed. Thus, in Fitzgerald's novel, when man focuses solely on the success that comes from power, corruption results. Therefore, the author supports the view that the individual's intense pursuit of success leads to his corruption and ultimately to an even more corrupt society. In the novel The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald has a pessimistic view of America and his description is that when a man only cares about his success, the result is corruption. Whether a man's corrupt actions alone are the cause of his downfall or the downfall of society, there is no doubt that individual corruption leads to individual ruin in the novel..