Comparison/contrast paper
My childhood consisted of family dinners where we all sat around the table together. The play Our Town, begins in the dawn with both Mrs. Gibbs and Mrs. Webb lighting their stoves to make the morning breakfast. Times have really changed since the early 1900s, more than sixty percent of Americans do not cook breakfast. My mother never cooked me breakfast, but there was always a home cooked dinner.
Emily and George were neighbors and their families were friends. Emily and Georges love story was a classic, late nights talking to each other from their bedroom windows. In high school, Emily and George started dating and fell into love. They got married shortly after graduating. In contemporary times women go off to college and do not get married until around age twenty six.
Joe Crowells starting role in the play is a milk delivery boy. His talents begin to unfold in his high school years. He turns out to be an exceptionally bright boy. He gets accepted to Massachusetts Tech and majors in engineering. On his path to becoming an engineer Joe gets killed in France during World War I. Joes scenario is very much like many of our fellow people fighting in Iraq. Everyday we lose more promising people like Joe in the war.
Nine years after her wedding, Emily struggles through childbirth. Emily dies does not make it through childbirth. Emily joins Mrs. Gibbs, Simon Stimson, Mrs. Soakes, and Mr. Webb as the dead. The stage manager informs the audience that eventually the dead lose interest in the living and in earthly matters. Everybody in their bones knows that something is eternal, and that the dead spend their time waiting for this eternal of their selves to emerge. Emily wants more than anything to re-live a day of her life. The other dead people explain to her about how selfish living people are and how little they appreciate. They try to convince Emily not to go back for a day, but she does. Emily chooses to go back to her twelfth birthday. Mr. Webb returns from a business trip with a birthday present for Emily. Emily notices that people do not appreciate their time on earth. Emily is so upset with her discovery that she returns to the dead early. The dead walk together and Emily expresses her regret for returning to life for a day. Simon Stimson lectures Emily about how the living waste time, inconsiderate of the feelings of others.
Our Town is essentially about the course of a human beings life. The play starts out with child hood and then progresses to death. Thornton Wilder wrote the play to point out how much people take for granted. The truth is that humans do waste a lot of time when they know there is only so much time. Emily made a very good point when she was disgusted by her behavior on her twelfth birthday, people are selfish. This play has changed the way I think about life. You are only given some much time to live, now shouldnt we all be happy for every day?
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