J.B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls

J.B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls

In this essay I will show what clues Priestly provides in the first

act to show that things are not what they seem!

The first point is how the scene is set. It is set in the Birling's

household, in Brumley. The Birling's are celebrating the engagement

between Sheila Birling and Gerald Croft.

The father of the family is a man called Mr Arthur Birling. Mr Birling

appears to be a confident man who thinks very highly of himself. You

can tell he thinks highly of himself when he says 'I might find my way

onto the next honours list.' This is the way he sees himself. But

things aren't what they seem to be.

Eric Birling seems to be a lively young man who likes his drink. He is

portrayed to be a smart looking man, who is quite a charmer. 'I don't

know really. Suddenly I felt I just had to laugh.' This shows that

Eric must like his drink a fair bit. But this is only the start.

Sheila Birling is showed to be a pretty girl in her early twenties.

She is very pleased with her life and quite happy. The quote I chose

for Sheila shows her being very happy. 'Oh - it's wonderful!

Look-mummy - isn't it a beauty? Oh darling.' This is before she knows

what Gerald has done.

The atmosphere was very happy and jolly. Everyone was enjoying the

engagement party. The characters are behaving like they don't have a

care in the world. Of course they do not know what is about to happen.

They do not know what they have done.

The second point is how dramatic irony and things that people say

tells us about the characters. Take Mr Birling, when he says 'Titanic

- she sails next week - forty - six thousand eight hundred tons - New

York in five days - every luxury - and unsinkable.' But the people in

the audience, or people reading the book know that the Titanic

actually sunk on its maiden voyage.