Our Town
(Thorton Wilder)
?Oh, earth, you?re too wonderful for anybody to realize you. Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it? ? every, every minute.? This famous phrase uttered by a character in Thorton Wilder?s Our Town gives us the impression that at least one man was able to savor life. He did so in this wonderful play about the simple life, marriage, and death of a young woman from Grover?s Corner, New Hampshire in the early 1900?s.
The first act focuses on the daily life of the inhabitants of Grover?s Corner. As you grow fond of these characters you start to learn what makes them tick. We learn about Mrs. Gibbs desire to travel and we begin to grow familiar with the relationships between the different couples. In fact, it is in the first act that Emily and George begin notice each other. During this act, Wilder is setting us up for his final act by showing us the daily tasks that seem so insignificant.
By the second act we have fallen in love with the simple characters of this great play. Now, we are focusing on the marriage of Emily and George. Wilder shows us the complex feelings involved with leaving your family to live with a stranger. This act is not limited to the marriage of Emily and George; however, it is expressing love in general. It is showing the tradition, the emotions, the fears, and the simple act of getting married.
The last act is the most important part of the play. In the beginning we saw the day to day tasks. We also saw the characters? values and dreams and importance. In the second act we saw love and marriage. We also saw the interlocking of lives and the importance and complexness of relationships. Yet, in the last act we throw all of these things together and show that each one is important.
We learn that life is important as Emily, after dying, acts out the memory of her 12th birthday. During this time she sees that everyone is so caught up in those daily tasks that no one has time to really enjoy life. We shouldn?t be so caught up in these tasks that we don?t have time to experience the days, hours, and minutes we are alive. "Just for a moment we're happy. Let's look at one another. . . "
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