. . . he might just as well have a companion

[shootingstar]

Dr. Gibbs: What do you think? What do you think, Julia? Shall we tell the boy he can go ahead and get married?
Mrs. Gibbs: Seems like it's up to us to decide. Myrtle and Charles Webb are willing. . . .
. . .
Dr. Gibbs: Here it is, almost April. - I'll go up and say a word to him right now before he goes to bed. (He rises.) You're sure, Julia? You've nothing more to add?
Mrs. Gibbs (stops ironing a moment) : I don't know what to say. Seems like it's too much to ask, for a big outdoor boy like that, to go and get shut up in a classroom for three years. And once he's on the farm, he might just as well have a companion, seeing he's found a fine girl like Emily . . . . People are meant to live two-by-two in this world. . . . Yes, Frank, go up and tell him it's all right.
(Dr. Gibbs crosses and is about to call when - )
Mrs. Gibbs (her hands on her cheeks, staring into the audience, in sharp alarm): Wait a minute! Wait a minute! - (Then resuming her ironing.) No, - go and tell him.
. ,. .
(Thornton Wilder, Our Town, Act II)

What is the meaning of might just as well have there?

 

[5jj]

Definition of MIGHT AS WELL

—used to say that something should be done or accepted because it cannot be avoided or because there is no good reason not to do it; —used to say that something else could have been done with the same result… See the full definition

www.merriam-webster.com

 

[shootingstar]

Thank you., but I don't understand it all the same, I'm afraid. ..once he's on the farm, he should have a companion or it should be accepted that he has a companion because it cannot be avoided or there is no good reason not to have one doesn't make any sense to me. - used to say that something else could have been done with the same result doesn't apply anyway. It defies me actually. What do you take he might just as well have a companion to mean in this context?

 

[White Hat]

I think the meaning is that, given all other options, there would be nothing wrong with him having a companion.

 

[Barque]

there is no good reason not to have one doesn't make any sense to me.

Why doesn't it make sense to you? It's a way of saying "No harm in doing it" or "It makes sense to do it".

It defies me actually.

"Might just as well" is an idiomatic phrase. The meaning of such phrases doesn't always exactly match the literal meaning of the words.

And once he's on the farm, he might just as well have a companion, seeing he's found a fine girl like Emily

To rephrase:
Once he's on the farm, there's no reason he can't have a companion, especially as he's found a suitable one in Emily.
He's found Emily. When he's on the farm, it'll be possible for him to live there with a companion/a wife. So it makes sense that he should do so.