Our Town, a play by Thornton Wilder, is a play that presents the most simple aspects of life. "That's what it was to be alive. To move about in a cloud of ignorance; to go up and down trampling on the feelings of those. . . of those about you. To spend and waste time as though you had a million years. To be always at the mercy of one self-centered passion, or another." This statement made by Simon Stimson in the third act, holds a certain amount of truth to it. It says that we all live our lives thinking that we have all the time in the world, and don't realize how precious life really is, and that we take it for granted. That most of our actions are driven by shallow desires, and that we sometimes hurt those most important to us not realizing that they are not there forever. These truths can be applied to both the play and life.
             One part of the play that supports the idea that our actions are usually driven by shallow desires is in act 2. When George is walking Emily home from school, Emily brings to his attention that George has been acting conceited and stuck up. We then learn the reason George wasn't paying much attention to her or his family and acting that way, was that he was so caught up in being the star of the baseball team. Without even realizing it, he was hurting his family and Emily, the people that meant the most to him. Another part that shows we take life for granted is after Emily's death, when she is saying her final goodbye. But instead of saying goodbye to the things that meant so much to her, she says goodbye to the little things that she took for granted and never knew how wonderful they were until it was all gone.
             As much in the play these truths are just as applicable to life. Many of us walk around as if we have all the time in he all the time in the world and don't realize how valuble life is. This is very evident in those who choose to waste their lives on drugs....