Sacrifice In The Play 'Our Town' By Thornton Wilder
766 Words4 Pages
Rachel Taskale
6/2/15
Honors English
Our Town Essay In today’s society, people focus on the future and what is to become of them rather than enjoying present. They don’t stop or take time in their day to focus on that moment in the day. In the play, Our Town, by Thornton Wilder, Emily realizes what she was missing when still alive. When she was alive, she took time for granted and now sees how the other people in the town don’t realize what they should be appreciating. Since she is unable to communicate with the people alive, she is forced to wonder if they will ever truly realize what they should appreciate. Furthermore, it is human tendency to miss the simple joys of their life. In Act II, George realizes his mistake throughout his…show more content… When she dies, the stage manager comes to her and tells her that if she wants to then she can choose one moment in her life to revisit. She chooses her twelfth birthday to look back on. After seeing the full day she has a sentimental feeling towards the past and is soon overwhelmed with how fast life. She tells her mother, “I can't. I can't go on. It goes so fast. We don't have time to look at one another… Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it? --- every, every minute?” (III, 100). This quote highlights Emily’s emotional response to the moment she chose. The moment illuminates to her how fast time flies and how fast people move throughout without stopping. When she says “we don’t have time to look at one another”, she is displaying how people never stop and enjoy each other’s company while it lasts, that since they are always in a rush they never stop to truly look at each other. In addition, Emily then goes on to try to get her mother to slow down, but since they are still alive, they do not understand what it means to slow down and take their time. Emily is able to appreciate life and the past because she has lived her life and now has time to just remember the past. Emily has nothing to do, nowhere to be, and no one to see so she is able to look back on life with sentiment. Moreover, people make the mistake of not