How is "Our Town" an allegory?

Good
points by the previous posters.  This is a classic American story, covering the stages of life
from birth to death and everything in between.  It's allegoricalin this sense:  while this is
set in a rural town in the early 1900s, it is everyone's story.  Who hasn't had the classic
friend misunderstanding, or the acquaintancewho died too young, or the fellow church member who
has "issues," or cried at a wedding, or lost a loved one.  And who isn't moved by the
idea that we live too quickly, without really looking at one another, as Emily says to her
mother.  It's everyone's story, and that's what makes it an .