Fatima Afrose
Miss Kloth
English 8 HP
28 October 2020
Are dreams worth living? In all plays, books, stories, or pieces of text, the author has a purpose for writing their story. In Our Town, the same can be said for Thornton Wilder, the author of the play, Our Town. Thornton Wilder’s main purpose for writing this play is to help the reader realize things about their own life, such as how they should be living it. The play hints towards the idea that people should try to live their lives to the fullest. This idea is presented throughout the whole play in various ways. One way this is presented in is throughout the characters. In the drama, Our Town, the author, Thornton Wilder, uses the three characters, the Stage Manager, Emily, and Simon
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The author uses this character to show the readers that the people in this play do the same things in life every day, opposing his main point, to lead the readers to the conclusion that people should live their dreams. In Our Town, Act Three, Simon Stimson angrily declares to those around him, “To spend and waste time as though you had a million years” (Thornton Wilder 109). Simon Stimson is talking about the live people and what it was like to live, he is saying that live people waste their lives doing the same things repeatedly day after day. They do their household chores, they follow their schedules, and they do these things everyday. Simon does not think these people are living their lives since he calls what they are doing “wasting” their lives. Relating to what Simon Stimson said, “A Man From Among The Dead” proclaims soon after, “And my boy, Joel, who knew the stars-he used to say it took millions of years for that speck o’ light to git to the earth” (Thornton Wilder 110). Before, Simon was saying that people live as if they have a million years, but stars, in fact, do have millions of years to live, billions even. Even though stars actually have the time humans wished they had, stars spend their lives according to their schedule, charted out from them as soon as they formed. This shows that no matter if you have a million years or just one day, you should still live your life as you see fit. Life may seem eternal, but it is our souls that are, so we should have happy things to think of, happy memories to keep with us, even in
From finding forgiveness to admitting their wrongs. In the beginning they had their faults in which they made up for leaving them stronger as people. Starting out with a lot of pain and sorrow and leaving with a better outlook on their lives. The characters were important to this play to show that people can be wrong, and that people can mess up and find their way back. It shows that people can change for the better and admit when they do something wrong in the midst of their lives.
For example, in the play, the white waitress says “You go round back if you want something to eat.” “Boy, you better get up off that seat. Don’t make me call the police and have you arrested.” The waitress is treating the boy's unkindly because they have a different skin color, they don’t understand that others treat people unfairly for their looks. Another reason why the theme is being different is because the play states “We have to eat in separate restaurants, live in separate neighborhoods, and even use separate drinking fountains.”
Firstly, the play depicts the main issues of individuals wielding power. In the play, the main character who held the most power was Abigail Williams. She had the most power because the judges and all the townspeople would believe anything she stated. Throughout the play, Abigail becomes more and more overwhelmed with her capability.
Each character in this play has made an impact whether that's good or bad it always gives us a bigger message. Take Abigail as an example. She may not be a good person but she teaches us a message about how we give into desires instead of following God and being pure as the puritans believed. Betty is important because she was one of the first people to be accused once she was dancing in the woods, this portrays the assumptions that were made during the Salem witch trials.
Throughout Our Town, Wilder depicts
This causes many characters to act out of line and no longer use discernment in their actions. Throughout the play, Miller illustrates different themes as a motive as to why different characters may be acting the way they are. One of the main themes Miller portrays in his writing is how these characters act
The play Our Town is about the people of a small town of Grover's Corners in New Hampshire. This play focuses mainly on two families, the Gibbs and the Webbs. The play portrays teenage years, love and marriage, and death throughout the three acts. Throughout the play, Emily Webb, Mrs. Gibbs, and Joe Crowell suddenly die suddenly when they had their whole lives ahead of them. Wilder conveys that death happens at any time so one should live every day like it will be their last.
The play shows Troy and his family's struggles in a time where they are not equally accepted in society and throughout the play there are several themes
One of the main characters named Abigail Williams causes most of the rumors in the play. She is the leader of the younger girls who start the trouble in the town. The way she acts is very similar to the way a highschool girl may behave, but on a more extreme level. One of the first things she does in the
They provide a human connection, which is more convincing than an abstract theme or a concept like time. The first of these characters is Stage Manager, who represents a God figure in the play–controlling the action of the play, deciding when to jump forward or backward in time–and he seems to be wiser than the average human being. Wilder made this character seem that way on purpose so that he could hint at some of the key points of his message through someone the audience could understand. Stage Manager made several statements that touched on the speed at which life goes by and how people should enjoy it, giving the audience a gentle reminder of Wilder’s argument. The character also remained composed and professional at all times, turning him into someone the audience could trust, and allowing them to see the true message.
In this segment of the novel, the man begins to reflect on the frailness of everything that makes up daily life. Language itself, the very thing used to communicate all of our history, doesn't mean anything when everything is gone. Another example of this idea is presented through the sites the man and boy pass as they wander, one of these sights were “...billboards [that] had been whited out with thin coats of paint in order to write on them and through the paint could be seen a pale palimpsest of advertisements for goods which no longer existed” (76). Billboards today often show us something of importance. They advertise products that make life easier, places to visit, movies to see, anything
Thus demonstrating how mob mentality can impact an individual and ultimately drive the action of the play. This shows us how one person who starts
One can interpret his actions and character in the play to be a representation of the existential crisis that many individuals go through in their lives. Simon’s addiction and boldness to constantly drag around town shows how Simon gave up on the meaning life holds and the reason for his
Each day, babies are born and elders pass away; thus, all contribute to the never-ending cycle of life. Everything on Earth is eternal, for nothing entirely disappears. Eternity is a complex topic, yet it occurs several times in the play, Our Town by Thornton Wilder. The Stage Manager believes eternity is a bridge connecting the unappreciative to the humble, which concurs with the events of the play. Dictionaries define “eternal” as lasting or existing forever; consequently, it complements the Stage Manager’s definition of “eternal”.
The plot the play is relatively simple. The town awakens to what appears to be a normal day, begins t quickly spin out of control as the town realizes and what happens to identity when the “other” is no longer under their