In his play, Our Town, Thornton Wilder explores the purpose of life and its true meaning. He questions whether acquiring wealth, fortune, or fame is what gives life purpose or if it is the everyday occurrences that make life meaningful. By delving into both life and death, Wilder seeks to answer this complex question that often crosses our minds.
Our Town focuses on discovering worth in the simple and commonplace aspects of existence, rather than the grand and splendid. It represents the continuous journey of life, encompassing the time from birth to death. Life is often regarded as a shared encounter that encompasses daily rituals, education, relationships with family and friends, romantic love, marriage, aging, and ultimately departing this world.
Thornton Wilder employs this cycle to communicate that life often fails to meet our expectations. Our desires for growing old, finding true love or happiness, or achieving our goals may go unfulfilled. Wilder illustrates this concept through death. In the last act, the “grave yard” doesn’t solely feature elderly individuals who died of natural causes; instead, it encompasses people of different ages with diverse aspirations and causes of death. For example, we encounter Wally Webb, a young boy who succumbed to appendicitis, and beloved Mrs.
In the play “Our Town,” Thornton Wilder explores the themes of unfulfilled dreams and the unexpectedness of death. Characters like Gibbs and Mr. Stimson, who never had the chance to go to Paris and tragically took their own life respectively, exemplify these themes. Emily, a beloved character, also faces death and joins them. Wilder’s message is that we should appreciate every moment as we never know when our time will come. He emphasizes that life should not be taken for granted or lived as if there is endless time. This message is depicted in Emily’s death while giving birth to a child.
The text emphasizes the themes of life and death, and the idea that new life is granted as death passes. Throughout the play, I had the belief that Emily was fortunate and had a long life ahead of her. I thought she was living a life of great opportunity without any regrets. However, in the third act of the play, when she joined the dead, I realized my assumptions were wrong. Initially, she believed her life was grand and perfect, and she was eager to relive a day from her past.
Once her request is granted and she relives her twelfth birthday, she becomes aware of the insignificant things that make life extraordinary, things that she overlooked. She comes to understand that she didn’t value her family and all the minor events, like having breakfast, and it starts to torment her internally. She realizes how, on a regular morning, she and her mother never made eye contact, and in an instant, everything she once knew seemed completely unjust and insignificant. Life itself became meaningless, and Emily goes back to her grave.
However, Emily does not depart without bidding farewell to all the small things in her existence such as clocks, breakfast, and sunflowers that she had never paid enough attention to appreciate. When Emily comes back, she poses the question, “Do any human beings ever grasp the essence of life while they are living it? -every, every minute?” Regrettably, deep inside, she is aware that the answer is negative and she feels sorrowful about the unawareness and blindness she exhibited while alive, as well as the lack of understanding that humans still have throughout their lives. Life holds immense importance because we only have one life to live. Hence, in order to maximize the quality of life, we must comprehend it fully.
Our Town is a significant book that offers insights into life. Author Thornton Wilder aimed to awaken our awareness of how we live and encourage us to value every moment. With this work, Wilder sought to provide a fresh outlook on life by highlighting the ordinary occurrences of everyday life. By portraying death as an entity to approach with happiness rather than regret, he demonstrated the importance of appreciating our lives and not undervaluing them. Typically, we fail to express the happiness that accompanies even the simplest experiences.
Good morning, from our mothers, each morning as we awaken. We do not display the sorrow felt when our friends are absent when we need them, and this is not the way we should behave. Our Town teaches us that living life in a monotonous routine, believing it is wonderful, is not the essence of life. It entails savoring and actively participating in every moment, every second, every minute, every hour, and every day. Death arrives when we least anticipate, and when it does come, we should have no regrets. We should have engaged in everything possible and lived life to its maximum.
We, as humans, have an innate awareness that there is something eternal. It is not material possessions, names, the earth, or even the stars. Deep down, we all know that this eternal aspect is connected to human beings. Thornton Wilder’s play “Our Town” reflects this notion of life’s continuity. However, this life goes beyond what we are accustomed to experiencing. It holds a profound significance and spiritual nature. To exist in this existence, we must initially grasp the life we previously lived.
This is what I believe people in the graveyard are eagerly anticipating. They await the deep understanding and integration of their own interpretations of the lives they led, transforming their regrets into happiness. They are waiting for the moment when they comprehend that life on earth is merely the inception, and existence continues. Although life may be arduous and result in sorrow, it is only through actively engaging with and appreciating the earthly life that something more significant can be achieved.
