Our Neighbor George's Character In 'Our Town'

Kierston Johnson
Mrs. Atkinson
Honors English 3 - 6th Period
26 October 2016
Our Neighbor George
“The name of our town is Grover’s Corner, New Hampshire- just across the Massachusetts line: latitude 42 degrees 40 minutes; longitude 70 degrees 37 minutes” (page 4). Our Town is a play written by Thornton Wilder about growth, love, and death. Bringing you through the mundane lifestyles of everyday people in Grover’s Corner. A prime character in Our Town is seventeen year old class president, George Gibbs. George’s journey throughout the play exposes his true self, displaying his trustworthiness, acceptance of criticism, and wise characteristics. Throughout Our Town, George Gibbs demonstrates trustworthiness. In town, others trust him to keep
Emily confronts George about how had been acting. She had begun to believe that he had only cared about himself and the he was “conceited and stuck-up” (page 65), and others in town had begun to think the same. In response to this common opinion, George says “I… I’m glad you said it, Emily. I never thought that such a thing was happening to me. I guess it’s hard for a fella not to have faults creep into his character” (page 66). He cares about how he is viewed in the eyes of a neighbor, especially Emily who he had taken a liking
For example, the main character, Emily gets the message across to appreciate life, or Mrs. Gibbs’ translates that you should live life to the fullest. The message delivered by Wilder through George is that you should prioritise what you need and what you want in order to have a fulfilling life. George chooses to stay with family and Emily over school, rather than missing out on things that happen back at home. These messages give readers a multitude of opportunities to learn from his writing, especially when a play like Our Town is set in a place so close to