The doorbell ringing appears to separate the two moods before and after the Inspector arrives. Priestley has used dramatic irony by making the doorbell ring to interrupt Birling? He is a man of mystery without a doubt. When he first begins to interrogate Mr Birling, he cuts straight to the point of Eva Smith. He exaggerates a lot of the things that happened to her to make them sound worse than they actually are. Birling believes its every man for himself, to look after number one, and not to care for poor people to forget about community.
He is very sexist as he tries to hide the truth form his family particularly from Sheila. He does this because he believes young girls like Sheila should be shielded from horrible things like death, because women are too weak to cope with harsh reality but he believes men can.
When the inspector shows the family the picture of Eva Smith and the family all find out they are all partly responsible for her death Arthur Birling attempts to use status and power to influence the Inspector. He was forever reminding him that he was an ex mayor and a magistrate.
It may also show that he is omniscient, and is a god or spirit like figure, which may explain why his name is 'Inspector Goole', as the writer has used play on words, as the word 'Ghoul' defines as a spirit.
The Inspector also uses his role to make the characters feel collective responsibility, as the makes all the characters feel guilty for Eva Smith's death through gathering information and by telling the story his own way, which is his role in the play. He gains control when he leaves the play as, at first one of the characters; 'Mr Birling' expresses his opinions on society by saying "the way some of these cranks talk and writ As it was set at the time before the First World War, Priestley's moral to that audience is to tell them that as the Birlings, and the upper class people need to change their views, and as the First World War followed, he is trying to tell that they will learn through "fire and blood and anguish" which represents war.
He tries to tell them that "we are members of one body" and that society is one. An Inspector Calls by J. Priestley The play "An Inspector calls" was written by J. Priestly in It was set in a Midland Industrial town in He is not interested in his parents' efforts to cover everything up: as far as he is concerned, the important thing is that a girl is dead.
The main social message is that people should be able to feel equal. So the Birling? Priestley uses the Inspector to point out what is wrong with the way the family thinks for example, about how they should consider the consequences of their actions.
Therefore Priestley gets his political message across by showing the audience how the Birling? Gerald and Mr and Mrs Birling? We often do on the young ones. This quote implies Priestley thought that the younger generation were the best hope for social change.
Priestley section. Get Full Access Now or Learn more. See related essays. Birling was 'surprised' at being questioned, so it seems that what he says is usually accepted as correct.
His surprise could also be because of exactly what the Inspector was questioning. Birling says that it is his 'duty to keep labour costs down' which indicates that he does not think. Of course he knows. And I hate to think how much he knows that we don't know yet. You'll see, you'll see" Gerald then tries to get Sheila to leave the room, probably so that she will not hear what has been going on between him and Eva Smith.
The fact that he did not recognise the name Eva Smith even though she was someone he dealt with directly and a worker who stood out, further shows that he does not think of his employees as people.
Which is unlike Eric whose response was "my God! Birling plays an important part in changing this helpless woman's life. He also started the 'domino effect' in pushing Eva into her death.
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Become a member. Firstly, I am concentrating on the arrival of the Inspector and how the timing of it signifies his character. As the Titanic had represented the prime of industry and mechanism, the sinking of it signified of what was to come in the future. Birling appeared to have great faith and confidence in the Titanic to be unsinkable and Priestley shows just how wrong he was, and how his opinions and views are the ones that he shares. Also, the importance of the mentioning of the Titanic is also linked to the year in which it happened - , which in pre-world war Britain held different experiences for different classes.
However this was only the situation for those who were the aristocracy and business people - those who were wealthy. Those of the lower classes were treated the oppositely. They were badly paid, deprived and unprotected by the state.
One of the most important reasons that the play was set in was that it was pre-world war Britain. Therefore the troubles that Eva Smith faces were more believable than they would have been if he had set it later on. This is because later on after World War One began, times for the lower classes were very hard, much harder than pre-war Britain.
When J. B Priestley wrote the play in the winter of , the world has just experienced another World War. Unlike the First World War , where the Working Classes were sent to the Front Line to fight, and most likely die, while the Upper Classes stayed back in safety, planning where to send the armies next, the Second World War - was much different. People were not given ranks because of their positions in society, but because of their knowledge and skill. For the first time, possibly ever, the classes had to work together so they could survive.
There was no room for their class system in wartime Britain. He strips them all of their names, their frivolities and arrogant attitudes until they are nothing but guilt-ridden, remorseful and ashamed. Being the driving force of the play, the Inspector gradually and systematically unravels the truth whilst constantly reinforcing the Birling's responsibility for the death of the young woman. Priestley's socialist values are easy to depict through the character of Inspector Goole as he frequently emphasises the importance of unity between the social classes.
In conclusion, I have discovered that J. Priestley uses a variety of different ways to present the character of Inspector Goole in a range of diverse ways. In my opinion, the main techniques that he uses are language and the question of the authenticity of the Inspector. These things manage to present the Inspector as a powerful, enigmatic, brusque figure who may have introduced himself as a police Inspector but is truthfully a moral Inspector, wanting to determine the truth behind the death of Eva Smith.
He is presented in these particular ways by his use of short sentences, which make him come across as slightly abrupt and often rude.
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