In the natural flow of events, Act III presents the idea of death. It opens in a cemetery, but transcends morbidity by emphasizing the beauty of the location, normal rituals of grieving, eternity, and immortality. Each person must die; however, Wilder softens the terror of passage by emphasizing the inner quality of the living that is eternal.
To make his point about the goodness of earth, Wilder utilizes Emily's return to her past as a means of reflecting on home life from the point of view of the dead. She discovers that the living are beguiled by a false sense of permanence and are too preoccupied with trivialities to savor humble, mundane events. Overall, Wilder succeeds in re-creating the sublime quality of everyday living. Without moralizing, he imparts to viewers that there is something worthy and noble about their lives. He stresses the simple decency of family relationships. In this way, he dignifies homely details that might otherwise be taken for granted, such as the ironing of a school dress or the stringing of beans for winter meals or the placement of a bouquet on a grave. In Our Town, a fruitful life — even though it receives no extravagant praise from the outside world — bears witness to its own intrinsic worth. It satisfies without fanfare. Ultimately, it concludes — by accident or disease or whatever means death brings it to a close — and transforms itself into a transcendent peace, devoid of recrimination or sadness.
