Our Town By A. E. Housman Analysis
Cameron Simmons
Dr. Ashley Butler
English 3- Honors
9 August 2016
To Make Great Literature
Author A.E. Housman said that, “Great literature should do some good to the reader,” meaning that a reader needs to gain something for the work to be great. The play Our Town and novel Of Mice and Men are two examples of the truth behind Housman’s statement, showing the hard choices life presents and the preciousness of life. In the play Our Town, the storyline starts at the birth of Emily Webb and ends after her death. Throughout the play, you can see the important moments in most everyone’s life that Emily experiences. But only after her death does she realize the importance of savoring every moment of life that you have because life moves so fast, “I cant. I can’t go on. It goes so fast. We don’t even have time to look at one another,” (Act III, 245). As he or she finishes the story, the reader can understand that though life may move fast, if they take all life for what it is, it is nothing less than sacred. Though the novel Of Mice and Men also has the same
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Housman said that, “Great literature should do some good to the reader,” meaning that a reader needs to gain something for the work to be great. The play Our Town and novel Of Mice and Men are two examples of the truth behind Housman’s statement, showing the hard choices life presents and the preciousness of life. In the play Our Town, the storyline starts at the birth of Emily Webb and ends after her death. Throughout the play, you can see the important moments in most everyone’s life that Emily experiences. But only after her death does she realize the importance of savoring every moment of life that you have because life moves so fast, “I cant. I can’t go on. It goes so fast. We don’t even have time to look at one another,” (Act III, 245). As he or she finishes the story, the reader can understand that though life may move fast, if they take all life for what it is, it is nothing less than
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