Social Responsibility in J.B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls

Social Responsibility in J.B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls

‘An Inspector Calls’ is a play written by J.B. Priestley. It was

written in 1945 after World War 2 but is set in 1912 before World War

1. The play was set before World War1 because back then there were

three different classes of people, (upper, middle and lower) and each

of them treat the lower class worse than their own, but Priestley

wanted them to realise that different class or not we should treat

each other the same. J.B. believed society should care for each other,

and hoped that by writing the play people would see the error in their

ways and change them. The play is set in a fictional industrial town

called Brumely; it takes place in the Birling’s living room. The play

centres around the Birling family and the way they treat people. The

Birlings are celebrating Sheila Birling’s engagement to Gerald Croft

until ‘An Inspector Calls.’

Mr. Birling’s views on social responsibility are ‘a man has to look

after himself- and his family too’ and that community is nonsense

‘community and all that nonsense.’ His views represented many people’s

views at the time. Priestley wrote the play to challenge these views

because Priestley’s views are the opposite of Mr. Birling’s views and

he expresses his views through the Inspector. The Inspector arrives to

challenge Mr. Birling’s opinions. His arrival is significant and

ironic because he arrives to teach the Birlings about the influence

they have on other people.

As the play progresses the Inspector cleverly interrogates the

characters and each reveal their involvement with the dead girl, and

consequently how they could have b...

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not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood

and anguish.’ The Inspector is say what Priestley thinks and is trying

to get the message across and hoping the audience will learn something

from the play and start working together as one community, and not

listen to Mr. Birling’s views which are the complete opposite of the

Inspector’s.

What Priestley is trying to say throughout this whole play is social

responsibility is something that should be practiced but is not. The

message Priestley is trying to get across throughout the whole play is

the people on earth should stop classing each other and start working

together as one because the way we treat each other is not nice, which

I think he got across well although social responsibility and

behaviour has not improved that much in the world.