From "Just Before Dawn" to Dusk: An Examination on the Passage of Time In Wilder's Our Town

From "Just Before Dawn" to Dusk: An Examination on the Passage of Time In Wilder's Our Town

From "Just Before Dawn" to Dusk: An Examination on the Passage of Time In Wilder's "Our Town" - Through close examination of the broader theme of life in the play Our Town by Thornton Wilder, my essay will argue the thematic influences found in each scene that draw the reader towards the understanding of outlining the past, the present, and the future within the play. In Thornton’s play, each act represents the transition from one period of life to another through the use of a seemingly omniscient narrator. The characters in the story experience what it is like to graduate, the process of seeming hopeful for the future of their lives, and eventually either the hum-drum of a monotonous life, or death itself. I begin by explaining how the story’s setting and the time period that it was written helps to bring this idea of hum-drum small town living to life, and how it furthers the promise of what was once deemed “The American Dream.” Then, through the characters’ dialogue and action, I drew the outline through each stage of life that these characters experience, and how each one of them represents different archetypes of people. I pay close attention to the way each character feels and expresses their emotions regarding their personal lives as a means of understanding explicitly how they interact with the world around them and how they move through this life predestined for them. By understanding each character’s motives and dreams and understanding how they have to leave them behind or change their dreams, we as readers can unveil a much deeper understanding of the human experience as a whole to understand that we’re really not so different from each other after all.