The idea of humans being powerless, towards the advance of time is greatly explored through Our Town. Through Wilder’s portrayal of the afterlife, it is shown that up until a person’s death, that they are not sentient of the value of human existence. Their knowledge is restricted and their only focus is on the superficial features in life. It is then later when they die that they gain the wisdom to see the greater picture and it is only then that they realize how special their time was. It is by that thinking that Wilder reveals his opinions on whether humans appreciate their precious and transient life through Emily’s desire to relive memories, Stage Manager’s descriptions of living in Grover’s Corners, and Wilder’s own thoughts.
In Act Three, when explaining why to Emily she should not relieve her memories, Mrs. Gibbs says “You’ll see that our life here is to forget all that, and think only of what is ahead, and be ready for what’s ahead. When you’ve been here longer you’ll understand” (Wilder 94-95). It’s her explanation that people don’t appreciate each and every moment so it will be painful for Emily when she is …show more content…
Similar to Emily, it is likely all of the dead tried to experience their memories and as a result of them realizing they took their lives for granted, the dead were traumatized to the point that they lost their feelings. It is why Emily is different than the other dead. She is new so at the beginning she has not been through the experiences the other dead have been through, and is happy and expressive in contrast to the stolid dead. As Mrs. Gibbs said to her, the longer she stays in the afterlife she will understand her fate just as everyone else and be just like the rest of the dead. Wilder shows this fate as a direct consequence of not understanding their precious
In Act Three, when explaining why to Emily she should not relieve her memories, Mrs. Gibbs says “You’ll see that our life here is to forget all that, and think only of what is ahead, and be ready for what’s ahead. When you’ve been here longer you’ll understand” (Wilder 94-95). It’s her explanation that people don’t appreciate each and every moment so it will be painful for Emily when she is …show more content…
Similar to Emily, it is likely all of the dead tried to experience their memories and as a result of them realizing they took their lives for granted, the dead were traumatized to the point that they lost their feelings. It is why Emily is different than the other dead. She is new so at the beginning she has not been through the experiences the other dead have been through, and is happy and expressive in contrast to the stolid dead. As Mrs. Gibbs said to her, the longer she stays in the afterlife she will understand her fate just as everyone else and be just like the rest of the dead. Wilder shows this fate as a direct consequence of not understanding their precious