Our Town

Act I

Reading Check

1. Emily and Wally (Act I)

2. Money (Act I)

3. Alcoholism (Act I)

4. Pneumonia (Act I)

5. Protestant Christianity (Act I)

Short Answer

1. Joe died during World War I, which was tragic because he was a bright young man who had just gotten a university education in engineering. (Act I)

2. Mrs. Gibbs confesses that someone offered to buy a piece of her old furniture for $350 and that if she were to sell it, she would want to use the money to travel—something that Mr. Gibbs despises unless it involves visiting a historical war site. (Act I)

3. George compliments Emily’s speech and admits that he watches her through her window as she studies at night. (Act I)

4. The Stage Manager points to the minimalist scenery and lets the audience know that it is there for those who need it. (Act I)

5. Everyone who sees Doc Gibbs greets him, and he seems to carry an air of authority that is especially present when he talks to his children. In the 1900s, towns usually only had one doctor, making that person extremely important. Doc Gibbs arrives home from delivering twins, showing the extent of his duties. (Act I)

Act II

Reading Check

1. After graduating high school (Act II)

2. The day that Emily and George realized they loved one another (Act II)

3. Perfect (Act II)

4. He wants to skip college and go straight to owning a farm. (Act II)

5. “Two-by-two” (Act II)

Short Answer

1. He is worried about married life and desperate for some guidance. Emily’s father instead rejects George’s request and tells him to figure it out on his own. (Act II)

2. They go on a date and get ice cream sodas. There, George admits to liking Emily, and Emily admits she likes George, too, but that he must try harder to be the person she needs him to be. (Act II)

3. Mr. Webb takes Emily to George and asks George to assure her he will care for her. After that, they both feel ready to marry. (Act II)

4. Both women spend their days and much of their nights working tirelessly for their families and rarely complaining. They are the emotional supports for their families, and both women have remained stable and solid through it all. (Act II)

5. The Stage Manager wants the audience to understand how the story reached the point of George and Emily’s wedding, and since the wedding is the primary focus of Act II, their meeting becomes a small glimpse of the past within it. The conversation they have at Mr. Morgan’s drugstore alleviates many of their fears and inspires them both to be better for one another. (Act II)

Act III

Reading Check

1. Mrs. Gibbs (Act III)

2. He hung himself after years of depression. (Act III)

3. Joe Crowell (Act III)

4. Flat and matter-of-fact (Act III)

5. The evolution from horse and carriage to cars and other vehicles (Act III)

Short Answer

1. Emily asks to return to her 12th birthday. While there, she sees her family busy dealing with meaningless things like gifts and a perfect meal. Emily only wishes to be looked at and truly noticed and appreciated, and she realizes that neither she nor most people appreciate life while they have it. The realization is devastating, and she returns to the graveyard. (Act III)

2. The dead feel a sense of indifference toward the living and life in general. They also feel pity for the living, as they do not realize how precious their lives really are. (Act III)

3. At the closing of the play, the Stage Manager addresses the audience one final time to comment on the possibility of human life being alone in the universe and how this causes people on Earth to constantly work to make the most of their time alive. All this work leads to nightly exhaustion, and as the play ends, so does the day. (Act III)

4. Emily is dressed like a child to show her purity in death as well as the innocence she carries in relation to death; she does not yet know its nature or even that she is dead. (Act III)

5. Simon Stimson comments on the flaws of living humans and how they tend to be preoccupied with their own desires and motivations, failing to see one another or the larger picture of life. (Act III)