All the greatest people ever lived have been telling us that for five thousand years and yet you'd be surprised how people are always losing hold of it. There's something way down deep that's eternal about every human being (Wilder, p.68).

Looking at what happens in Act III with reference to that quotation, it is clear that Wilder is trying to say that something about Emily lives on in the town. It is not Emily. By having the Stage Manager offer to take her back to life and demonstrating that Emily literally cannot return to the world of the living, Wilder explodes the idea that Emily can return to the living. He makes it clear that death does mean the end of something. However, it is important to realize that Wilder's play does show some type of life in the cemetery. The cemetery's inhabitants may not be engaging in the...
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