Analysis of An Inspector Calls

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Analysis of An Inspector Calls The play revolves around the death of Eva Smith who is said to have committed suicide after her unfortunate meetings with each of the Birling’s and Gerald. At the start of the play the Birling’s are celebrating Sheila’s engagement with Gerald, when unexpectedly inspector Goole arrives to question the Birling’s and Gerald. The inspector tries to show and convince the characters how and what parts they played in Eva’s death. All the characters succumb to the inspector’s unconventional way of questioning and tell him how they each were in relation to Eva’s death. Each character played a part towards the eventual demise of Eva and they were all responsible for her death in one way or another. I believe that it was not one particular incident that led to her suicide, but that it was the chain of events that the characters participated in. After the inspector departs Gerald finds out that the inspector was not in fact an inspector and the whole thing was a hoax. Sheila and Eric are still in repentance about what they had done to Eva but the rest were comforted by the news and were very much relieved. Then they all are shocked when they receive a phone call from the infirmary saying that a girl called Eva Smith had just come in to the infirmary after swallowing some disinfectant and a inspector is on his way to question them all; this is where the play ends. The first character I will look at is Mr. Birling who is a self-absorbed “hard headed business man”. He also likes dishing out advice to youngsters even when it is not called for. ... ... middle of paper ... ... our actions. Unlike the audience of that era, who would have found even just the news of a suicide and dying in such terrible pain would have caused great shock amongst the crowds; we live in a community that is hard to shock due to the scare factor of our horror movies in this century that are more gruesome than would have been exposed to an audience of that time. Our communities have grown into status changes where mostly everyone is treated as an equal and social status is not placed into ranks, for example how wealthy a person is, does not affect the way they are treated. Society has changed a lot since the times of 1914. However, I believe that the message will still be put through, although it may not affect our lives as much, and that I understood the important lessons of responsibility behind the play.

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