Memories can revive many emotions. They can activate the senses to bring familiar sensations back to life. Their power allows a person to relive the glory and enchantment of his youth and reflect on his former character. Unwanted memories haunt the beholder while desired memories enhance the soul. Remaining in happy memories – and even depressing ones – for a short time is healthy, because memories are continuous reminders of the personality. However, if a person is determined to remain eternally in the past, he becomes dissatisfied with the present. Slowly memories tear at their mind, eating away at their confidence and self-esteem until the individual reaches their final death. Therefore, lingering in the past prevents contentment, because it is impossible to recreate the euphoria of the past. Gatsby did not know this to be true, as he desperately attempted to reconnect with Daisy, wanting to continue their young romance where it left off. Although after almost five years Daisy had moved on, Gatsby persisted in looking at the green light at the end of the pier, wearing his pink dress – immature – and associating himself with the clock in the center of Nick's mantelpiece. None of Gatsby's impetuous attempts were successful in recreating the past, and as a result he suffered not only a mental breakdown, but also a physical one. The green light enables Gatsby's solitary desire to recreate the past. Because the light represents Daisy, every night Gatsby is tormented by the bright, continuous glow that reminds him of a nearly forgotten love that has since left him with a hollow soul. He hasn't felt truly happy without Daisy, so he clings to the green light that represents her and, consequently, to the past. ...half of the sheet...keep trying to check it and restore it. The embarrassing moment that follows states, “I think we all believed for a moment that it had shattered on the floor” (Fitzgerald 92) which also represents the fact that the past cannot be reconstructed because although the clock did not break , the atmosphere suggested that this was the case. Since the characters are surrounded by an atmosphere of broken time, it is evident that the past cannot be restored once broken, making each person extremely uncomfortable. Gatsby's memories led to his death, because he did not understand the importance of liberating and respecting history for what it is. Instead, he clung to the past through the green light, pink suit and a simple watch. Furthermore, he lingered in a place that did nothing but paralyze his well-being, indifferent to the impossibility of restoring the past to its former glory..