Jay Gatsby, a mysterious self-made millionaire, throws lavish parties in his West Egg mansion for one reason: to win back his lost love, Daisy Buchanan. His obsessive quest is a portrait of the Jazz Age’s wild extravagance and the corruption of the American Dream.
The novel masterfully illustrates how a ruthless desire for wealth and status ultimately proves hollow, unable to purchase genuine happiness or reclaim the past. Gatsby’s tragedy unfolds in a vivid depiction of a society mesmerized by the illusion of wealth.
Dickens’s quintessential tale of redemption offers a timeless portrayal of greed’s isolating power. The selfish miser Ebenezer Scrooge hoards his wealth, valuing profit over people. Confronted by ghostly visitors who force him to witness the emotional and social damage his avarice has caused, Scrooge undergoes a profound transformation.
At its heart, the story reveals that human connection and generosity are the true sources of wealth, a moral delivered through one of literature’s most memorable character arcs.
This panoramic novel captures the zeitgeist of 1980s New York City, a world of excess and ambition. When Sherman McCoy, a self-proclaimed "Master of the Universe" and wealthy bond trader, makes a single disastrous decision, his life unravels.
Wolfe masterfully satirizes the greed consuming the financial sector, politics, and media, showing how the reckless pursuit of power and status can ignite a city-wide firestorm. McCoy’s downfall exposes the deep social, racial, and class divisions simmering beneath a veneer of glittering success.
Patrick Bateman, a handsome Wall Street investment banker, epitomizes the soulless, sociopathic greed of 1980s yuppie culture. By day, he obsesses over business cards, designer suits, and restaurant reservations; by night, his materialism curdles into acts of horrific violence.
Ellis uses biting satire and graphic detail to connect Bateman’s insatiable consumerism to a profound moral void. The novel is a disturbing critique of a capitalist culture where brand names have more value than human lives.
Sinclair’s sprawling novel chronicles the rise of the Southern California oil industry and the rapacious greed that fueled it. The story is told through the eyes of James "Bunny" Ross, the idealistic son of a charismatic oil tycoon, whose journey exposes the rampant corruption, labor exploitation, and political manipulation behind the oil boom.
Sinclair powerfully reveals how unchecked corporate greed shapes not only personal destinies and family loyalties but the very course of American history.
In this scathing satire of Victorian England, the mysterious foreign financier Augustus Melmotte arrives in London and quickly captivates high society with promises of immense, speculative wealth. His grand but hollow railroad scheme ensnares everyone from the desperate to the aristocratic, revealing a society consumed by financial obsession.
Trollope’s keen social observation exposes how easily greed can erode integrity, making this a powerful commentary on the moral bankruptcy that often accompanies a frantic chase for unearned riches.
A landmark of American Naturalism, McTeague presents a gritty, unsparing look at how greed can degrade human nature. The novel centers on McTeague, a simple, unlicensed dentist in San Francisco, whose life disintegrates after his wife, Trina, wins a small lottery fortune.
Their initial happiness devolves into suspicion, paranoia, and violence as Trina’s obsessive hoarding and McTeague’s resentment fester. Norris vividly portrays their descent, showing how the corrosive power of greed can strip people of their very humanity.
This concise and powerful tale functions as a parable about the corrupting nature of wealth. When the poor pearl diver Kino discovers the "Pearl of the World," he believes it will bring his family security and a better future. Instead, the magnificent pearl attracts envy, betrayal, and violence, poisoning his relationships and community.
Steinbeck contrasts the purity of the natural world with the social sickness of greed, showing how a symbol of hope can become a catalyst for tragedy.
Operating under the famous epigraph "Only connect," this novel explores the English class system and its conflicting values through the intertwined lives of three families: the pragmatic, materialistic Wilcoxes; the intellectual, idealistic Schlegels; and the struggling, lower-class Basts.
The Wilcoxes’ form of greed is tied to property, empire, and inheritance, a mindset that clashes with the Schlegels' pursuit of personal connection and culture. Forster brilliantly illustrates how an obsession with property can alienate people from their own emotions and from each other.
Based on the life of the real-life tycoon Charles Yerkes, this novel is an absorbing portrait of Frank Cowperwood, a brilliant and utterly ruthless financial genius. Driven by an insatiable desire for wealth and power, Cowperwood navigates the world of post-Civil War finance with shrewd manipulation and moral indifference.
Dreiser examines not the condemnation of greed but its raw mechanics, portraying Cowperwood as a force of nature whose personal philosophy—"I satisfy myself"—justifies his ambition and defines his tragic, monumental life.
Lanchester offers a panoramic snapshot of modern London through the residents of a single street, Pepys Road, where soaring property values have made everyone a millionaire on paper. When each household begins receiving anonymous postcards bearing the message "We Want What You Have," a subtle sense of dread disrupts their lives.
The novel deftly explores the myriad forms of contemporary greed—from the anxieties of new money to the rapacity of international finance—and how the relentless pursuit of capital affects individuals at every level of society.
This coolly precise novel follows 28-year-old billionaire asset manager Eric Packer on a surreal, day-long limousine ride across a gridlocked Manhattan. As he speculates on the yen from the back of his high-tech limo, his empire begins to crumble and the world outside erupts in protest.
DeLillo explores the abstract, hollow core of extreme wealth, presenting a world where financial speculation is completely disconnected from reality. Packer's isolated journey is a powerful symbol of greed's potential to cause alienation and spiritual death.
Cartwright’s sophisticated novel delves into the 2008 financial crisis through the collapse of a venerable family-run bank. The fall of Tubal & Co. exposes the hidden greed, moral compromises, and familial betrayals that festered beneath its respectable facade for generations.
The story intricately connects the lives of its richly drawn characters—from the aging patriarch to a semi-retired stage actor—painfully revealing how the consequences of financial ambition ripple outward, distorting relationships, ethics, and one's sense of self-worth.
Subtitled "A Novel without a Hero," this masterpiece of social satire introduces one of literature's greatest opportunists: the penniless, clever, and utterly amoral Becky Sharp. Set against the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars, the novel follows Becky’s relentless climb up the social ladder.
Her greed is not just for money but for status, and she uses her wit and charm to manipulate everyone around her. Becky’s story is a timeless examination of a society obsessed with wealth and rank, exposing how the desire for advancement can supplant all other virtues.
Exploring a more philosophical form of greed, Wilde’s novel tells the story of a handsome young man who sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty. Fearing that his looks will fade, Dorian Gray expresses a wish that his portrait would age in his place.
The wish is granted, and as Dorian plunges into a life of hedonistic indulgence and moral corruption, his painted image grows grotesque while he remains untouched. The novel is a chilling allegory of the greed for pleasure and experience, demonstrating how a life dedicated solely to satisfying one’s appetites leads to a corrupted soul.