Time is more than just the background, it is also an important motif that propels the plot and molds the characters, most specifically Jay Gatsby. All he does is marked by his preoccupation with the past, foremost his affair with Daisy Buchanan. Gatsby’s longing to “repeat the past” shines light on a simple aspect of human nature our inability to let go of memories, even if they are fabricated. Gatsby’s need to recreate a perfect moment in his life is what destroys him because time is something that can be manipulated in his reality. Fitzgerald illustrates the risks of dwelling on what’s past and the pointlessness of attempting to re-make it through Gatsby’s doomed quest. For him, time is something to be changed, turned back, and relived, and not a linear process. It is the thought that under lies all that he does from changing his name and creating another identity to getting wealthy and hosting lavish parties hoping to bring Daisy back into his life. Gatsby pines not only for Daisy but for the past, when their love was free of material wealth, class, or the challenges of life. Fitzgerald is not going to let Gatsby’s logic stand unchallenged, though. Gatsby’s idealized recollection of the past, which he clings to, is a fantasy created over years of yearning. While Daisy has evolved, Gatsby cannot accept her as she stands. Rather, he imposes upon her his own idealized version of her or his version of her. His collapse finally comes because he refuses to recognize that time passes, that human beings do change, and that the conditions of life change.