The Ending of J.B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls

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The Ending of J.B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls 'An Inspector calls' is a 19th century play written by J.B Preistly. It is set in the early 1900s and focuses around a well-off family. They are celebrating the engagement of Mr. Birling's daughter, Sheila, to Gerald her fiancé, when they are interrupted by an Inspector Goole, who claims to be investigating the suicide of a young girl called Eva Smith. Every character has their part to play in the death of the girl. Eva Smith used to work in Mr. Birling's Factory, but he fired her after she went on strike over pay. After she left the factory, Eva Smith got a job at Milwards, a large department store, where Sheila persuaded the Manager to fire her because she had been very impertinent, when really she was jealous of her. The next person who was involved with Eva Smith was Gerald. She had now changed her name to Daisy Renton. Gerald and Daisy had a fling and when they finished Gerald gave her some money "to see her through to the end of the year". Just two weeks before the Inspector had arrived to talk to the family, Mrs. Birling had turned Daisy Renton/Eva Smith down after she had appealed to her organization for help. She was pregnant with Eric's baby. Eric and Eva Smith had had an affair after they met in the Palace Bar. Eric stole some money from his Fathers office for her to help with the baby and after that Eva Smith never wanted to see him again. The inspector reveals all these involvements, and then disappears. The family discover that he is not a real inspector, and they are not in trouble with the law. They also discover that Eva Smith has not committed suicide. ... ... middle of paper ... ...er classes treated the working classes. The most interesting thing about the ending of the play is the question about what Inspector Goole is, is he a ghost? Is he real? When Mr. Birling calls the Infirmary it proves the Inspector's supernatural powers. He tricked Mr. Birling into calling the infirmary; if Inspector Goole had never told them the story about Eva smith, he would never have called the infirmary to ask about her suicide. It was that call that he made which aroused the police's suspicions and caused them to send round a real inspector when the girl really did die. How could inspector Goole have known about her death, unless he was a ghost, and had supernatural powers of premonition? This keeps the audience guessing and wanting to know what happens. The play is very clever, it makes the audience think.

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