Satirical Elements In The Play Our Town By Thornton Wilder

Life happens. We breathe and laugh, learn and love, hurt and cry, and one day we die. Thornton Wilder took a second to see humanity and did not like what he saw. He saw a herd of people wasting their lives, looking no further than themselves. In an attempt to change the world around him, Wilder used the theatrical elements, the main character, and the plot to his play “Our Town” to show people how much they miss when they look and think only about themselves. First, when one looks at theatrical elements, such as the set and props, one can see just how much it focuses the audience on each character in the play. As the audience comes in Thornton Wilder made it very clear that the stage is to be completely void of any type of set or scenery. One the play starts and the main character, the stage manager, the stage is filled with only six chairs two tables and a bench, to represent two homes and the main street. Latter only two ladders are added to represent the upstairs of the home. Besides the two sets already mentioned there are two more: one making the stage resemble a church, and the other consisting of only ten to twelve chairs which represent

In the last act it is revealed that the dead have the ability to recreate their life as if they are living again, however each warns the others to never try is. That is because while living their focus always goes to how to be comfortable in their own skin, they are focusing on giving themselves a good life. However, when they go back, they go back to be with the people they love. The dead do not want to “relive” their life to eat all the great food, or anything like that. The dead have no need for it. Instead they go back to be with the people they miss, and can not stand being apart from. All the attention, therefore, goes off of themselves, and onto the people around