In the movies "Our Town," "Grapes of Wrath," and "October Sky," many differences and similarities can be observed. All of these movies depict the different changes the United States have experienced throughout the years, and how those changes impacted families, communities, and American society. The nineteenth-century cultural construct which we have labeled "frontier, garden, and machine" are all present in these movies in subtle and some obvious ways. These cultural constructs were sustained, modified, or transformed in reaction to milestone events in American history.

In each of these movies, the plot was built around a family and the changes each family experienced. The people of "Our Town" were very concerned with the feelings of the people in the family. When the father confronted his son about his lack of diligence in his chores, his father mentioned that his mother had to work harder to...