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The Meaning Of Life In Thornton Wilder's Our Town

Decent Essays

Our Town is a story on how humans does not fully appreciate life until they die and realize what they did and want to go back and change it. Thornton Wilder’s play Our Town is about a town life in three acts. The three acts are as followed. Daily Life, Companionship, and Death.It shows how people live and die and how they regret things they did on earth and come to see the big picture of life. Wilder argues, because life is short we must appreciate the joys of living until we die.

Wilder’s exploration of the brevity of life is important in Our Town for many reasons. In the beginning of the book, the stage manager describes Joe Crowell in detail: “ So he would go on to get a scholarship to Massachusetts Tech. He was going to be a …show more content…

This quote shows prime examples of the statement of reasoning by telling us that Emily did so much for her family and when she died she wanted to do so much more than she could do. Another example of the statement of reasoning is when Joe Stoddard is talking about when Simon Stimson killed himself (Wilder 91). This claims my thesis by saying that all Simon did was drink and did nothing else. He could have done work like Joe and Emily but he did not and died with no work to his name. This relates to Emily because Emily was the top of her class and had a somewhat successful future unlike simon who only was the choir director who drank all the time and was gossiped about by Mrs. Gibbs, Mrs. Webb, and Mrs. Soames.

Wilder shows throughout the book that relationships that are successful equal lots of happiness in the long run. At George and Emily's’ wedding, they both said that the wanted to spend the rest of time with each other and to build a good family. George says “I’ll do my best to love and help you Emily” and Emily later says “I just want someone to love me and to love them” (Wilder 80). At this moment, in each of their lives, they share with each other that there is no one they want to be with than each other. They both value each other in so many special ways.This claim relates to the thesis in many ways. The one I am focusing on is that the quote explains Emily and George both love each other and want a loving family. With a loving and supportive family

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