Before creating this paper I thought about how to aproach it. Even though I decided not to go into detail about the individual characters in the play I still wanted to show how lovingly and affectionately Wilder has portrayed them. So instead of analyzing the main characters I will begin with a short description of the town and its people because that shows us as the readers a lot about the way of life in Grover's Corners: How do the people treat each other, what do they think about their fellow citizens? Does their attitude change within the play?

I decided to put an emphasis on the motives and themes of the play, because they shape the play and make it unique. So I will go about it by looking at the Stage Manager and his role in Our Town, I will write about the central theme "love" and about Thornton Wilder's dual vision. I think that these themes are strongly expressive.

In the end I will show how or if the play is connected to American History.and the political situation of the time during which it was written.

Over there are some Civil War veterans [...] had a notion that the Union ought to be kept together, though they'd never seen more than fifty miles of it themselves. All they knew was the name, friends - the United States of America. [...] And they went and died about it.

Love is a central theme in the play.With the story of George and Emily Wilder shows the power of love and the need for love among humans. As Mrs. Gibbs puts it: "Yes...people are meant to go through life two by two.'Tain't natural to be lonesome." And the Stage Manager repeats it again: "Like Mrs. Gibbs said a few minutes ago: People were made to live two-by-two." This repetition emphasizes Wilder's statement that the family is the germ cell of society and therefore has a significance in our living.

There are two more descriptions of Grover's Corners given to us. One is given by Prof. Willard whose description emphasizes on the geographical and geological data:

At first sight this seems to be very scientific (he knows the exact number of townspeople), but if you look at it closely you realize that his description is not so scientific, it is rather funny and hilarious and has no scientific basis. The technical terms are lined up without a clear connection and the time analysis is way out of line. Instead of getting a better picture of Grover's Corner the audience is confused and amused.

From the description of the townspeople we learn that many of the citizens of Grover's Corners have spent all their life within the village - except for the few citizens who have attended a university like Joe Crowell and are explicitly mentioned . But we learn that leaving the safety of the village is not a good idea: "But the war broke out and he died in France." Therefore the center of life for most people lies within the village and so they do not know much or do not care too much about the world around them. On the contrary it is understandable that they care a great deal about everything that happens within the village and about the people they live with, because that is their identity. Everybody knows everyone else and wants to know every detail about their fellow citizens, privacy is something they do not know or respect. Mr. Webb always asks the constable if anything has happened in town: "All quiet tonight?" and "Been any trouble here?" . Of course he must also be interested in any kind of news because of his newspaper since he earns his living with the news.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Stage Manager, Grover's Corners, Simon Stimson, Thornton Wilder, George Why's, Emily George, Act II, Joe Crowell, American Historyand, War II, grover's corners, stage manager, thornton wilder, daily life, life grover's corners, beginning play, corners people, life grover's, details daily, dual vision, details daily life, civil war, stage manager explains, grover's corners people, wilder's dual vision,
Approximate Word count = 6196
Approximate Pages = 25 (250 words per page double spaced)