Theme Of Idolatry In The Great Gatsby

Throughout the Great Gatsby, the theme of idolatry has shown itself in the book as one of the central ideas in the story. As the characters in the book are introduced, we are also introduced to their idols which are shown by the character’s actions. One example is Jay Gatsby, the protagonist of the book. Jay Gatsby is portrayed as a rich millionaire who lives in the West Egg of New York, just right across the one of the idols he worships. That idol is Daisy. The story starts way before the telling of this story to when Gatsby and Daisy were in love. While they were in love, Gatsby joined the US military in World War One, leaving Daisy, but asked her to wait for him. But Daisy couldn’t wait and married another man named Tom Buchanan. In

One example of his obsession with Daisy is when Nick and Jordan are talking about Gatsby. Jordan said, "When I said you were a friend of Tom's, he started to abandon the whole idea. He doesn't know very much about Tom, though he says he's read a Chicago paper for years just on the chance of catching a glimpse of Daisy's name." (pg. 79). Gatsby is so possessed by Daisy, he even looked in the Chicago papers for years to look for Daisy’s name. This is strange because why would you spend years upon years looking for someone in the newspapers unless you were obsessed with that person. Another example of Gatsby’s idolization is how Gatsby strategically bought a house across Daisy’s. Gatsby lives in the West Egg and Daisy lives in the East Egg on the other side and as Nick and Jordan continue their conversation about Gatsby and Daisy, they say, ‘It was a strange coincidence,’ I said. ‘But it wasn't a coincidence at all.’ "Why not?’ ‘Gatsby bought that house so that Daisy would be just across the bay.’"(pg. 78) This also shows how Gatsby idolizes her because of his desire to want to be across her house, almost stalkerish. He wants to get back with Daisy, but Nick says, “‘I wouldn’t ask too much of her,’