The book tells about the tragic fate of the talented young man Clyde Grifits. Between sincere love and big money, he chooses the latter, passionately wanting to fulfill the cherished "American" dream - by all means from the low social stratum to break into the elite of society. And on the way to realizing this goal, Clyde does not stop at anything - he goes to kill his beloved girl. Dreiser said: "No one creates tragedies - life creates them. Writers only portray them." The reality of twentieth-century America is such that the deeper the edge of the artistic image penetrates into it, the more clearly its tragic features are manifested.