Our Town (1938)
SYMBOLS
(1) The Grover’s Corners Sentinel
The Sentinel is the local newspaper of Grover’s Corners, edited by Mr. Webb. Joe and Si Cromwell deliver it to people’s doors in all three acts, and the townspeople decide to include a copy in the time capsule buried under the new bank building. A newspaper is supposed to report on important (literally “newsworthy”) events. The Sentinel is thus associated with the major events that one normally thinks are most important in life. However, somewhat comically, there is not much to report on in Grover’s Corners. In Act One, Dr. Gibbs asks if there is any major news in the paper and Joe Crowell tells him that his schoolteacher is getting married. In Act Three, Mr. Webb wants to write a story about a man being rescued from freezing to death, even though Constable Warren tells him it was really not a major event. The newspaper can thus be seen, on one hand, as symbolizing the fact that there is nothing particularly newsworthy about Grover’s Corners, an ordinary and rather dull town. At the same time, the play stresses the importance of everyday, ordinary things, and so the fact that the town newspaper captures.
(2) “Blessed Be the Tie That Binds”
This hymn shows up several times throughout Our Town. The church choir practices it in Act One, while a choir sings it at George and Emily’s wedding in Act Two. The song is also performed at Emily’s funeral in Act Three, and she comments to Mrs. Gibbs that it was her favorite hymn. As the hymn’s title suggests, it symbolizes the importance of a community that is connected together through various ties. Our Town is an examination of the tight-knit community of Grover’s Corners, which is itself made up of the close communities of individual families. The hymn celebrates these connections—such as marriage—that build strong families and a strong town community.
(3) The Time Capsule
However, the song can also have a darker significance. It is perhaps ironic in Act Two, as it is sung just as Emily is panicking and saying that she does not want to be bound to George in marriage. In this context, the song is almost menacing, as Emily has little choice but to be connected to George. And in the cemetery of Act Three, the real tie that binds all of us together seems to be our inevitable mortality, as we all die and end up in a cemetery just like the deceased characters. Still, the hymn is, overall, an affirmation of the family and community groups in the play bound together by various ties of family, friendship, and love.
(1) The Grover’s Corners Sentinel
The Sentinel is the local newspaper of Grover’s Corners, edited by Mr. Webb. Joe and Si Cromwell deliver it to people’s doors in all three acts, and the townspeople decide to include a copy in the time capsule buried under the new bank building. A newspaper is supposed to report on important (literally “newsworthy”) events. The Sentinel is thus associated with the major events that one normally thinks are most important in life. However, somewhat comically, there is not much to report on in Grover’s Corners. In Act One, Dr. Gibbs asks if there is any major news in the paper and Joe Crowell tells him that his schoolteacher is getting married. In Act Three, Mr. Webb wants to write a story about a man being rescued from freezing to death, even though Constable Warren tells him it was really not a major event. The newspaper can thus be seen, on one hand, as symbolizing the fact that there is nothing particularly newsworthy about Grover’s Corners, an ordinary and rather dull town. At the same time, the play stresses the importance of everyday, ordinary things, and so the fact that the town newspaper captures.
(2) “Blessed Be the Tie That Binds”
This hymn shows up several times throughout Our Town. The church choir practices it in Act One, while a choir sings it at George and Emily’s wedding in Act Two. The song is also performed at Emily’s funeral in Act Three, and she comments to Mrs. Gibbs that it was her favorite hymn. As the hymn’s title suggests, it symbolizes the importance of a community that is connected together through various ties. Our Town is an examination of the tight-knit community of Grover’s Corners, which is itself made up of the close communities of individual families. The hymn celebrates these connections—such as marriage—that build strong families and a strong town community.
(3) The Time Capsule
However, the song can also have a darker significance. It is perhaps ironic in Act Two, as it is sung just as Emily is panicking and saying that she does not want to be bound to George in marriage. In this context, the song is almost menacing, as Emily has little choice but to be connected to George. And in the cemetery of Act Three, the real tie that binds all of us together seems to be our inevitable mortality, as we all die and end up in a cemetery just like the deceased characters. Still, the hymn is, overall, an affirmation of the family and community groups in the play bound together by various ties of family, friendship, and love.