In Our Town, Thornton Wilder expands on the idea of ​​appreciating life because what is taken for granted will eventually be taken away from you, and then you will eventually miss what you least liked. The play takes us to a small town and we see how simple life is, to the point that we can get bored because of how similar our lives are. After witnessing events in the play that we might once have perceived as grand and important, described as relatively simple and straightforward, we begin to wonder how important these events are in our lives. Not until death. Our City shows us that everything in life is unique and special, and therefore we should appreciate every moment. Wilder uses a rather unconventional shift in focus by frequently moving back and forth between large and small events to show the importance of each moment. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay As the play begins, we are taken to a simple and insignificant moment in Grover's Corners, with Dr. Gibbs stopping to talk to Joe the paper boy. While many consider it boring and lacking in plot, it is meant to represent the actions we take every day that become part of our routine and begin to lose their meaning. Dr. Gibbs asks him if anything bad is happening in the world, to which Joe replies "Yes, sir. My school teacher, Miss Foster is getting married to a guy in Concord" (p. 9). This statement shows that our perception of big and small events is relative. Most people would consider a major global event to address much bigger issues than a local teacher's wedding, but in Joe's eyes, this is very big news. This transition between big and small events shows us that the small moments in life are just as important as the big ones. At the beginning of the play, the stage manager introduces Doc Gibbs and his wife. Immediately after introducing them, he says: “Doc Gibbs died in 1930. . . Mrs. Gibbs died a long time ago, actually” (p. 8). Already knowing of his death, we see his actions in the play differently. If Doc Gibbs had known he would die in 1930, he would have lived his life differently, enjoying every moment and spending time with his family. Wilder is trying to teach us how we should live our lives. We don't know anything that happened between now and his death, but we can assume that most of his life was the same as it always was. By living a simple life and not paying attention to one's surroundings, we can simply remove years of one's life from history without changing it. Although many people live their lives aiming for a moment in the future, once that moment arrives, their lives will still be fundamentally the same, and time spent waiting is time wasted and unappreciated. Time compression shows us the importance of time and how each unique moment should be appreciated rather than rushing to some point in the future. Act III begins to conclude Wilder's lessons by clearly showing us that we are not fully appreciating life. The act begins with Emily's funeral, however, the act does not focus on her funeral but on her experience in the afterlife. Emily enters the afterlife at his funeral and sits in a chair next to Mrs. Gibbs. She's happy to be there, but she still thinks like a living person. She begins to tell Mrs. Gibbs about their new water fountain and says, "We bought it with.