Major Themes In Our Town

“To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.” - Oscar Wilde. People often times do not live their life to the fullest potential, and end up becoming miserable as they become elderly. The common obstacles that prevented potentials from being reached could be fear from being judged by others, or simply not finding a purpose in life. Dying with regrets is the opposite of resting in peace. This theme played a major role in some of America’s most popular playwriting and books. In the drama Our Town written by Thornton Wilder, the protagonist Emily Webb developed the way she viewed life from when she was naive as a child, to when she experienced love, and when she encountered remorse.
In the beginning, Emily was just a naive child. Emily did what any ordinary child at her age would be doing , attend school and repeat the cycle. She was very enthusiastic about how she was the smartest person in her school. “Mama, I made a speech in class today, and I was very good” Emily cheerfully said (Wilder 65). Her parents were obviously very proud about her achievement, and so was Emily. Achieving outstanding school grades was Emily’s main concern in life at the moment, and everything else was not as important to her. As time progressed, she met a boy at her
school named George, who will play a major role in her life.
As Emily matured mentally when she met George, she developed a love life.
They walked home together from school one day and Emily experienced what love was truly like from talking to him. George also expressed his fondness for her during the time they went out to purchase ice cream soda. “I’m going to tell you why I’m not going to Agriculture School. I think that once you’ve found a person that you’re very fond of... Well, I think that’s just as important as college is, and even more so. That’s what I think” (Wilder 129). Leading on from this event, George and Emily eventually married each other. They revolved around one another, and were both willing to dedicate their entire life to each
other.
The final development was in Emily’s afterlife, where she encountered remorse. Emily had died from childbirth, which resulted in George becoming a male widow. Emily’s spirit did not want to remain in the afterlife with the rest of her former neighbors, and was eager to return back to the real world. She wanted to relive her twelfth birthday. However, the emotions that she expected to receive from going back to her birthday turned out to be the complete opposite. ““Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it?—every, every minute?” Emily exclaimed (Wilder). After she experienced reality for one last time, Emily realized how short life really was and how she treated hers as if she had a million years to live. Emily quickly rejoined with her deceased neighbors after experiencing the painful memories.
Throughout the story, Emily’s views on life changed as she mentally developed from her childhood until death. In the beginning she was naive, towards the middle she discovered what love was, and was very remorseful at the end. Often times, people fail to treasure every second of their life like Emily. They grow up becoming dissatisfied and disappointed with themselves. Everybody is given a single opportunity at life, so they all need to make the most out of it.