people are so put together that...

[shootingstar]

:
Stage manager: There are a lot of things to be said about a wedding; there are a lot of thoughts that go on during a wedding.
We can't get them all into one wedding, naturally, and especially not into a wedding at Grover's Corners where they're awfully plain and short.
.....
This is a good wedding but people are so put together that even at a good wedding there's a lot of confusion way down deep in people's mind and that ought to be in our play, too.
The real hero of this scene isn't on the stage at all, and you know who that is. It's like what one of those European fellas said: every child born into the world is Nature's attempt to make a perfect human being. Well, we've seen nature pushing and contriving for some time now. We all know that nature's interested in quantity; but I think she's interested in quality, too, - that's why I'm in the ministry. - Maybe she's trying to make another good governor for New Hampshire.
....
(Thornton Wilder, Our Town, Act II)

What does people are so put together mean in this context? And - by the way - who is the real hero here? Is it Nature or evolution, or is it Cupid? I can't get any real idea of it actually.

 

[SoothingDave]

People are "so put together" means "that's the way people are." It's the way they are made.

The play depicts a small town in New Hampshire in the period between 1901 and 1913. It's unlikely or impossible that a minister at that time would be talking about evolution. He's talking about Nature. That's why he refers to a "she."

 

[shootingstar]

It's unlikely or impossible that a minister at that time would be talking about evolution.

Thank you very much indeed.
To me it sounds like Charles Darwin - and the Stage Manager says It's like one of those European fellas said: ... I don't know if Charles Darwin said this but it sounds very much so. That's why I got the idea evolution and Charles Darwin could be meant here. In this context Nature and evolution seem to be one and the same to me.

 

[Skrej]

And - by the way - who is the real hero here? Is it Nature or evolution, or is it Cupid? I can't get any real idea of it actually.

The hero mentioned here is nature, but he does speak of evolution in a roundabout way.

Today we tend to think of evolution and creationism (religion) as mutually exclusive because the two have become so polarized by politics, but the Bible makes constant references to nature and change. Remember that the stage manager is playing a dual role - that of stage manager managing the actual stage and play, while simultaneously portraying a character in the play (the local minister.) He's both in our world, and the world of the play. I don't want to go off on too much of a tangent and hijack the thread, but I will point out that some people have no problem reconciling evolution and religion. Our manager seems to be one of these.

Much of the theme of the play is about the circle of life. The minister/stage manager frequently espouses on the how it's natural for people to pair off and raise offspring, because that's what nature intended. It may not be a direct reference to evolution, but the simple fact is that a species which doesn't adapt and improve suffers or even dies off. Good genes are the most likely be rewarded via reproduction. That's why so many animals compete for the right to mate and reproduce.

The comments about quality over quantity show this. The only way to get superior results is through volume. Most results are average, some exceptional, and some undesirable or even defective. The minister hopes to help Nature out a bit by helping people get married and have offspring, and perhaps even provide some guidance for that next potential governor or exceptional person.

We see the irony in this in Act III, where Emily dies during childbirth. A sort of ultimate sacrifice to the cause of improving the species, while at the same death just being a natural part of the cycle.