Our Town was a great play that not only tells a wonderful story, but shows the way things worked in that time period. The men expected certain things from women and had their beliefs on what they should and shouldn't be doing. The same was true for the women. For example, the women were either expected to have a job and no family or have a family and keep house. Emily says she wants to be a speaker, but then someone tells her that she would have no time for a family if she was working all day.
The women had basic things expected from men; they worked and made money, etc. The men expected more; they wanted them to clean the house, manage the children, and cook for the family. The children were expected to do their chores, have manners, and be clean. They were very much expected to do good in school, graduate, and marry off. Some of those values still stand true today, such as the graduating of the kids, bringing home money, and cleaning.
Modernization was very evident in act III. It skipped to about 13 years after act I, when cars were becoming more popular and the small town of Grover's Corners had becoming more than the Gibbs', Webbs, Newsomes, etc. Now there are more people, and a lot of things are changing due to increase in population. In the beginning of the book, there's no horses and carts coming down Main street very often, if at all. People could leave their doors unlocked because they knew everyone in town and there was no danger. Now, 13 years later, there are Fords going up and down the road all the time, and doors are being locked every night.
The whole funeral scene is basically showing how the times changed. Emily was telling them how they had a Ford and how she didn't drive, and earlier they had said that the Fords were nothing but trouble. Little things that were said in the first act are now being compared and contrasted to Emily's life after Mrs. Gibbs, Mrs. Soames, etc. had passed. It's almost a point to show how much change had happened in little time.
