The morning star always gets wonderful bright the minute before it has to go –doesn’t it?
-- Stage Manager (I paragraph 12)

Importance: As the Stage Manager introduces the audience to Grover’s Corners, he reflects casually on the morning star shining brightest before it disappears. However, this is much more than a casual observation. It is a metaphorical statement about life. Life only seems to really be seen at the last moment, when it is too late.

In our town we like to know the facts about everybody.
-- Stage Manager (I paragraph 53)

Importance: Giving the audience contextual information about people and what they do, the Stage Manager reveals that small town folks like to know about the other folks in town. This speaks to the close-knit community of Grover’s Corners and the diverse characterization of the people in the town and surrounding countryside.

Very ordinary town, if you ask me. Little better behaved than most. Probably a lot duller...
-- Mr. Webb (I paragraph 231-232)