The Presentation of the Inspector in An Inspector Calls
J.B. Priestley was born in Yorkshire on 13th September 1894. He
gained his writing experience in the years before the war 1911-1914;
he did not work among professional writers; he was around “people who
read a great deal, cared a lot for at least one of the arts, and
preferred a real talk and hot arguments to social chit-chat.” Despite
having grown up into his father’s circle of socialist friends, he
found himself joining in in their political discussions/arguments. It
was around this time that Priestley started to write in his front
attic bedroom.
At the age of twenty, and at the outbreak of war, in 1914, he joined
the infantry. He left in 1919, having seen active front-line service
in France and having narrowly escaped being killed when a German shell
exploded three yards away from him and having been a victim of a
gas-attack.
In “An Inspector Calls”, Priestley uses a lot of his political views
in the Inspectors speeches by using him as a kind of a mouthpiece for
his socialism. The play was written in 1946; however it was set in
1912, just before the outbreak of WWI. This was a new era when people
were no longer willing to accept the poverty or the class system that
had gone before. Priestley strongly believed that everyone had some
responsibility for others in society and not just their own welfare.
He realised that change was coming and explores this theme in his
play. Priestley believed that events are repeated over again unless
people face up to their past activities, like Eric and Sheila do, and
only this can bring about a positive and equal change in society.
At the start of the play, Act 1, Mr Birling is portrayed to the
audience as quite a self confident and opinionated person who doesn’t
believe in “collective responsibility”. He feels he belongs to a
social class that makes him superior and somewhat divorced from other
members of society. He has no concept of helping, or being
responsible for others. This is shown in Act 1 when he is with the
family and his daughter’s new fiancé, Gerald Croft, celebrating their
engagement. He made a few speeches that give the audience a bad view
of him and make him look arrogant and ignorant. “…Just because the
Kaiser makes a speech or two…Everything to loose with war, and nothing
to gain.” And to Eric, “…And I say there isn’t a chance of war…in a
world that’ll have forgotten all these Capital versus Labour
agitations and all these silly little war scares.
There would be more of an effect on the audience at the time, as it
they decide to become allies with each-other because they realize that war is useless and in
War is the means to many ends. The ends of ruthless dictators, of land disputes, and lives – each play its part in the reasoning for war. War is controllable. It can be avoided; however, once it begins, the bat...
The play is set in three scenes. The entire play is set in the dining
on the outbreak of the First World War, he was sent to France where in
In 1914 he joined the army and nearly got killed by a German shell by
"And be quiet for a moment and listen to me. I don't need to know any
technology and how a man should live. He says 'A man has to make his
talks with. He is a man who has come to the Birling's house to do his
The play is the tale of a rich family, that are accosted by a man
An Inspector Calls is a play with lots of political messages as well as social messages. J. B. Priestley believed in socialism and he used large amounts of his plays to try and convince people to his way of thinking. It was written in a time when Britain was ruled by a Labour government and socialist policies were seen to be a good way to go. It was a common way of thinking at that time so Priestley's aim for the play was to influence the unconvinced in society.
The Inspector in An Inspector Calls Examine the function and symbolism of the Inspector in the play – An Inspector Calls, and explain how Priestly makes him dramatically effective Throughout the play ‘An Inspector Calls’, by J.B Priestley, the audience sees the role of a mysterious investigator who interrogates a powerful and upper-middle class family: The Birling's. Priestley uses the role of the Inspector to expose the characters in the play, and to put his own views across about the Birling’s and their conservative beliefs. The play was written in 1946 and set in the spring of 1912. This means that the audience would have known the future events (the two world wars). Therefore they are in a position to judge the characters beliefs.
fight?', as if to say that the idea of war was nothing more than a
“War is unorganized murder, and nothing else” (Harry Patch). In World War 1, which was first called the Great War, there were many causes of the war breaking out. The Great War started August 1st 1914, days after the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophia, when they visited Bosnia. Many soldiers went to war for no reason but to fight for their country. The Great War was not only affected by the soldiers, but also by the civilians as well.
In closing, W.D Howells is successful in his use of these methods of argument. “Editha” paints a clear picture of the men who must fight and the people who casually call for war. He proves Editha’s motives are unworthy of devotion. After all, it is easy to sit back and call for war when it will be the common enlisted man who will die to provide this luxury. In the end, Howells made his point clear. War never comes without sacrifice or consequence.