Our Town by Thornton Wilder: The Message to Appreciate Life

In Our Town, Thornton Wilder develops the idea of appreciating life because what's taken for granted will eventually be taken away then you ended up missing what you least appreciated. The play takes us to a small town and we see how simple life is, to the point where we may get bored due to the similarity to our lives. After witnessing events in the play we might have formerly perceived as big and important portrayed as relatively simple and straightforward, we begin to question how important these events are in our life. Not until death. Our Town shows us that everything in life is unique and special, so we should appreciate every moment. Wilder uses a rather unconventional shift in focus by frequently moving back and forth between big and small events to show the significance of each moment.

At the beginning of the play, we are taken to a simple and insignificant moment in Grover's Corners, Dr. Gibbs stopping to talk to Joe the paperboy. While many see this as boring and lacking plot, it is meant to represent the actions we take every day that becomes part of our routine and begin to lose meaning. Dr. Gibbs asks him if anything serious is going on in the world, to which Joe replied "Yes Sir. My school teacher, Miss Foster's getting married to a fella over in Concord"(p. 9). This statement shows that our perception of big and little events is relative. Most people would consider that a big event in the world would deal with much larger issues than a local teacher getting married, but in the eyes of Joe, this is very big news. This transition between big and small events shows us that small moments in life are just as important as big ones. Early in the play, the Stage Manager introduces Doc Gibbs and his wife. Immediately after introducing them, he states "Doc Gibbs died in 1930. . . Mrs. Gibbs died first-long time ago, in fact" (p. 8) By already knowing about his death, we view his actions in the play differently. Had Doc Gibbs known he would die in 1930, he would have lived life differently, appreciating every moment and spending time with his family. Wilder is trying to teach us the way that we should live our lives. We do not know anything about what happened between now and when he died, but we can assume that most of his life was the same as it had always been. By living a simple life and not taking notice to his surroundings, we can simply remove years of his life from the story without changing it. Although many people live their life aiming at a point in the future, once that moment arrives their life will still be basically the same, and the time spent waiting is time lost and unappreciated.

The compression of time shows us the importance of time and how each unique moment should be appreciated rather than rushing towards a point in the future. Act III begins to wrap up Wilder's lessons by clearly showing us that we do not fully appreciate life. The act starts with the funeral of Emily, however, the focus of the act is not on her funeral but her experience in the afterlife. Emily enters the afterlife at her funeral and sits down in a chair next to Mrs. Gibbs. She is happy to be there, but she is still thinking like a living person. She begins to tell Mrs. Gibbs about their new drinking fountain, and tells her "We bought that out of the money you left us," to which Mrs. Gibbs replies "I did?"(p. 88) Emily still thinks that money and possessions make life good. Wilder is showing us that we, like Emily, spend our lives focused on objects instead of experiences. We can never truly be happy until we can learn to simply enjoy life. While many moments of our life seem boring and ordinary, Emily shows us how unique these moments really are. After Emily has died, the Stage Manager informs her that she may return to a day in her life. However, others among the dead advise her against taking this journey, calling it unwise. Emily disagrees, claiming "It's a thing I must know for myself" (p. 92). Mrs. Gibbs provides one last piece of advice: "Choose the least important day in your life. It will be important enough" (p. 100).

In spite of this, she still chooses a rather important day, her 14th birthday. Emily's return to her past life is a shocking experience, as she realizes how much of her life she has passed by. She appears fourteen years into the past, watching the daily routine of the town. Everything that happens we have seen before, common things such as the milkman delivering bottles of milk and making conversation with others. Emily is delighted to be back in her town at first, but she soon begins to see her life under a different light. After spending time back in life, she breaks down in tears. "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it?-every, every minute?" (p. 108) she asks the Stage Manager. By reliving her life, she notices that no one stops to appreciate all that is happening every moment. From an outsider's perspective, she can see the world moving around her, while others maintain a narrow focus. Wilder uses this scene to reach out to us and urge them not to wait until it's too late to appreciate the world. If we can acknowledge the fine details of life every day, we would live a better life. Waiting for holidays and occasions to enjoy life is a waste of our time on this planet. As Emily discovers only after her death, we miss so much of every day as we rush towards the future, ignoring the present. The play Our Town warns us to appreciate every moment of our life or we will end up missing the truly important ones.

While the first two acts of the play may bore the viewer, the third act shows that it is our life that we allow being so boring. This proves Wilder's point better than any line could, by making us think about our lives and the way we handle day to day events. Wilder teaches us that to live a fulfilling life, we must appreciate every moment no matter how big or small. By ignoring what is happening around us and only looking towards the future, we miss out on the simple yet magical moments of the present. Even though life could be hard, don't take it for granted because you don't have a second chance. once you start appreciating your life you will see the importance of it, remember happiness doesn't come to the ones who don't appreciate what they already have.