Gatsby's dream is nothing less than turning back time. He left his beloved, Daisy, to go fight in World War I. In the interim, she married Tom Buchanan. Gatsby returned, made his fortune and bought his mansion across the bay from her in order to woo her back, for to him Daisy represents the wealth and financial security he has always craved, as well as his youth. He believes he can convince her to leave Tom and marry him. He dreams of erasing the time since she married Tom, so that they can start over as if Daisy's marriage had never happened. Nick tries to tell him this is impossible, but Gatsby dismisses Nick. Gatsby shows a bit of shock over Tom and Daisy's young daughter, Pammy, who is impossible to erase, but he seems determined to overlook that. Nick proves right that it is impossible to erase time, as Gatsby learns when Daisy shows she is unwilling to deny a recent past that is real and potent for her. As Tom says, he and Daisy have shared things that nobody else can understand. Daisy says she can't do what Gatsby wants and say that she never loved Tom.
Nick ties Gatsby's dream of starting over to the American dream of Europeans as they stood on the cusp of the New World, dreaming of starting afresh, creating a new world as if the past had never happened.
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