Simon Stimson: The Meaning Of Small Town Life

Our town is act three play that discusses the meaning of birth, life, and death. It is told from the perspective of the stage manager. Stifling is a great word to describe Simon Stimson. The synonyms of stifling are very telling. Suffocating, constrained, oppressed, smothered, strangled, repressed, muzzled, curbed, and squelched. What descriptive words to describe the small town effect upon Simon.
He was an artist living in an artless world. He was a musician living in a silent world. He was a choirmaster living in a non-symphonic world. And he escaped from this one dimensional world by hitting the bottle, drinking alcohol to escape the mundane existence of small town life. We do not know if there was a particular event that led to his alcoholism or if it was a manifestation of his dissatisfaction with life, but we see the effects that excessive use of alcohol had on his life--a life that eventually was ended by his own hand.
Even from the grave, his …show more content…
Small town life is ripe with denial. An idyllic setting cannot tolerate a town drunk, especially someone of the stature of the choirmaster and church organist, so they turn a blind eye. Pretending that is does not exist. They are keenly aware but act oblivious to the problem at hand and then claim innocence as if they were in the dark, unaware of the depth of despair of an individual in their midst. It represents a hole in the fabric of their lives and that is not acceptable. It’s as if the routine of small town life keeps the residents looking straight ahead--no peripheral vision--similar to the blinder’s that are employed for horses. You can see, but your vision is limited and looks straight forward which relieves oneself to being accountable, even to the point where an individual in their midst is oozing the need for help and you continue with life as status