Tradition In Our Town

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“Tradition is the handing down of statements, beliefs, customs, etc from generation to generation to generation, by word of mouth or by practice.” (Dictionary.com) However, fixed tradition gives the citizens of Grover’s Corner a bit of trouble. In the play, Our Town, Thornton Wilder uses tradition to show that the importance of everyday moments are often forgotten due to the lack of analysis.
Throughout the majority of the novel, the citizens of Grover’s Corner are in state of repetition. Specifically, in both Act 1 and Act 2 the residence of the Grover’s Corner live up to the traditions of the town. During the beginning of Act 1 the citizens live an average small town life, and there is minimal stage movement when changing scenery. Sometimes …show more content…
In that moment, the stage manager is analyzing the situation of the citizen’s tradition. Even though they seem to enjoy it, marriage is something that is expected of the characters. It is how they lived their lives, “... in our growing up and in our marrying and in our living and in our dying” (Wilder 33). In a way they only have four things to accomplish during their entire life. Sticking to those four accomplishments is their most important tradition. Yet, focusing on their traditions causes them to lose sight of analyzing their everyday …show more content…
Being in a constant state of going through the motions refrains characters from living their life properly. With the stress of continuing tradition gone, the dead citizens finally have the time to reflect on their past lives. They even come to the understanding that they have been missing out for a while. Some even start to wonder, “Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it? -- every, every, minute?” (Wilder 108). They finally have the realization that their everyday moments were not appreciated. Some even feel the need to admit their wrongs out loud, “Oh, earth, you’re too wonderful for anybody to realize you” (Wilder 86). They see that the lives they lived were not utilized to their full potential. The dead citizens grasp that there is something that’s been missing in their lives while they were alive. “ We all know that something is eternal” (Wilder 87). They did not know it before, but with the time and ability to analyze their past lives, the citizens all understand that there was something more that they could do to fully live out their lives. In
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