The Relevancy and Popularity of A.I.C in the 21st Century
‘An Inspector Calls’ is a play written by J.B Priestley in 1945. The
play is set in the fictional town Brumley, 1912. It is based on the
Birling family, who are celebrating the engagement of their daughter
Sheila to Gerald Croft when an Inspector arrives to question them. He
tells them about the death of a young girl called Eva Smith, turning
the joyous celebration into a sinister crime investigation. Each
character has a different perception of the Inspector’s revelations
and it is revealed that each member played a part, driving ‘Eva Smith’
to suicide. But as the play progresses an unexpected twist is
delivered, when we realise all is not what it seems.
‘An Inspector Calls’ remains relevant because of the issues that often
occur in the play. This is when the Birlings as a whole family are
prejudiced towards the lower class. An example of this is when Mrs
Birling says, “As if a girl of that sort would ever refuse money.” She
is referring to Eva Smith when she refused to take money off Eric, as
he was stealing it from his father, making out that she is worthless
and needy. Throughout the play the Birlings make comments like these
implying that they are far more superior than lower class people. We
can relate to this in our society when people are prejudiced towards
one another because of where they live or what sort of clothes they
wear. People who read this play might realise what sort of world they
really live in. Everyone should be treated equally.
At the end of the play when the family realised that the inspector was
a fake, Sheila and Eric changed their attitudes, they were disgusted
at what they had found out about themselves who could have been
involved in the murder investigation. “And we all helped to kill her,
that’s what matters” this was said by Eric, from this we can see that
there may be a hope for the younger generation, even though Mr and Mrs
Priestley is attempting to convey to his audience that Mr Birling needs to change, and not only Mr Birling, but the rest of the society that is comparable to him.
Priestley mainly uses the characters in the play to present his views, especially Mr and Mrs Birling, to present his ideas about class and society. In the Birling family, Mrs Birling is the most upper class, and is always referring to the lower class female factory workers such as Eva Smith as ‘girls of that class’. She seems to think that working class people are not humans at all.
An Inspector Calls was written in 1945 but set in 1912. The play shows the stark difference between 1912 and 1945. J. B. Priestley reveals the errors of society and the faults of capitalism as well as the bias of the upper class and social status. As a firm believer in the concepts of socialism, he uses this play to expose society’s poor attitudes to the working class of the period. The way they treat Eva Smith reflects on how many of the working class may have been treated by their social superiors. Eva was a victim in society as she was very low in the financial hierarchy as well as in reality where she was at the bottom of the classes. Women at that time were seen as being delicate, obedient to their husbands. The inspector is used to correct the
An Inspector Calls' is primarily focused on he attitudes surrounding the higher classes in 1912, and how these attitudes can lead to actions with potentially devastating consequences. The attitudes are particularly aimed at women, especially those of working class status. In the play women are portrayed as second class citizens, after men. However the difference (e.g. in independence) between upper class men and women is greater than that of working class men and women.
Examine Priestley's use of dramatic techniques to create tension in the play. Priestly was a socialist writer, and 'An Inspector Calls' is one of the plays in which he tried to display his socialist ideals in. The play was written in the 1940's, a little after the end of the Second World War, and it was first performed in 1946, in Russia, then later in England. Priestly had served in World War 1, and the terrible scenes he saw lead to him having socialist views. He was inspired by other writers whose views he shared, especially George Orwell and H.G.
In the play “An inspector calls” by J.B priestly, Mr Birling and Shelia Birling have contrasting attitudes to social issues. The author uses this to difference to highlight the diversity between generations and their reaction to situations faced. Arthur Birling is the father to Shelia Birling and is presented as the old fashion generation whereas Shelia is the young generation, who is more aware of the responsibility she has towards other people.The play begins with Mr birling and his family celebrating the engagement of Shelia and Gerald. The atmosphere is happy and light-hearted. Before the inspector arrives, Mr Birling is happy with life and himself “It’s one of the happiest nights of my life.” This shows that Mr Birling is quire selfish because he only thinks that it is one of the happiest nights of his life and not of Shelia and Gerald.
Priestley represents Mrs Birling, as a very posh and high class woman. She, like her husband, can be very self-important, for example, when the Inspector says, "You're not telling me the truth" and she replies, "I beg your pardon!" She seems horrified that somebody could speak like that to a lady of her class. This is not only an example of how she is portrayed as self-important but also how class-conscious she is. Another example of this is in the stage directions at the beginning of the play when Mrs Birling is described as ?her husband?s social superior? meaning she is probably more aware of what the class boundaries are than perhaps Mr Birling would. She is also presented as rather cold and severe, ?If the girl?s death is due to anybody, then it?s due to him? Mrs Birling says as she criticises the father of Eva Smith?s baby. Here she shows she has little or no real regard towards other people?s feelings, especially people of a lower class. She says that the man responsible should be ?dealt with very severely?, assuming that he, like Eva, is lower class, therefore implying that upper class people never do anything like that. This links with the theme of stereotypes which is seen a lot in the play.
Within the play “An Inspector Calls, J.B Priestley uses ideas and themes to form the play and explore areas of our society and real problems to structure the play. One of the main themes of the play is responsibility. Responsibility is used by all of the main characters in the play and presented in different ways by each of them, by their different outlooks on responsibility and how they have varying degrees of their thought of their involvement with Eva Smith that resulted in her suicide. As responsibility is a key theme, Priestley uses it as a way to connect with us and to understand our personal responsibility in society. He wants us to learn to accept responsibility like Sheila and Eric and not avoid it like Arthur and Sybil. The play
Priestley’s Main Aim in An Inspector Calls JB Priestly wrote ‘An Inspector Calls’ to enhance the message that ‘we don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other’. This is something Priestly felt strongly about and he succeeded in representing his views through the character of the Inspector in the play itself. He wanted to communicate the message that our actions, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, always affect others.
was genuine and this allows the audience to almost predict their own ending; how will the family react to the arrival of the real Inspector? Will they acknowledge this as a chance to admit to their mistakes or will they try and conceal their guilt? I thoroughly enjoyed studying An Inspector Calls and have learned a great deal about how society has changed and how moral ideals have evolved over time. I found the play effective although because of the way in which society has developed Priestley's morals may not be applicable to life today. As wealth and power have become increasingly more important socialist feelings of responsibility for one another have been progressively weakened.
He was particularly scathing about the class system and the extreme contrasts of wealth and poverty prevalent at that time. He also disapproved of the selfishness within the individual and the fact that many people were only concerned with their own power, profit and gain. Priestley powerfully highlighted the exploitation of women and through the character of Eva Smith, he illustrated the rights that women were beginning to voice in society. Finally, Priestley used the different characters in his play to show the how the sins of greed, pride and selfishness have so corrupted society that the individual has become oblivious to the consequences of their actions, in this case culminating in the death of Eva Smith. Although 'Inspector Calls' is set in 1912, it was first written in 1945 and produced on the lst October 1946, just after World War 11.
In the novel, 1984 by George Orwell, Winston Smith, the main character, is in world full of technology. There is a telescreen that watches and hear everything you do. Big Brother posters are everywhere on the street and in building .The police are involved in everything too. Everything you do has to be Big Brothers way, including how you speak. The Party controls what you believe, if someone does something wrong, that person is vaporized or tortured in the Ministry of love, a place with no windows and no darkness. And if everyone knows that that person has been vaporized and the Party says they haven’t been vaporized, you have to believe that they didn’t and if you say otherwise, then you get vaporized as well. The Ministry of Truth writes the newspapers and says what the Party says. The Ministry of Peace focuses on war with Eastasia and Eurasia, they say that they are in war and bomb their own cities and tell the people that they are in war. The Ministry of Plenty looks after economic affairs in Oceania. Everything in Oceania is being watched or listened by Big Brother.
In 'An Inspector Calls', by J B Priestley, Mr Arthur Birling is an affluent industrialist in addition to being the father of Eric and Sheila Birling. Mrs Birling, his wife, if of a higher social level than Mr Birling himself, although Mr Birling lives an established socially-distinguished life: “You'll apologize at once ... I'm a public man”, demonstrates Mr Birling attempting to use his social power against the inspector but in futility. The Inspector reminds Mr Birling that Birling is not just responsible for his actions, but for his failure to see that his public position entails a duty of responsibility to other people. Interestingly, this attitude draws on the traditional notion of the upper classes taking responsibility for the welfare of the lower classes, but in the newer, more democratic life of Britain, the "public men" are not necessarily of higher social class even if they have more public privileges; at any rate, their position of power comes with responsibility. Nonetheless, the audience knows little of Birling’s nature or profounder details regarding his habits. Howeve...
In her book, The Real World of Technology (1999), Ursula M. Franklin argues that technology has a disruptive effect on humanity. If left-unchecked technology will eventually destroy society as we know it. Franklin illustrates her point by focusing on the effects technology has had on society and cultures in the past. She uses examples from China before the Common Era to the Roman Empire, with a majority of examples coming form the last one hundred and fifty years. Such as the Industrial Revolution and the invention of electronic mail. Franklin contends that for society's sake, people must question everything before accepting new technologies into their world. In the book, Franklin's argument urges people to come together and participate in public reviews and discuss or question technological practices that lead to a world that is designed for technology and not for society. The Real World Of Technology attempts to show how society is affected by every new invention that comes onto the market and supposedly makes life more easy going and hassle free while making work more productive and profitable. The lectures argue that 'technology has built the house in which we live'; (Franklin, p.1) and that this house is continually changing and being renovated. There is very little human activity outside of the house, and all in habitants are affected by the 'design of the house, by the division of its space, by the location of its doors and walls.'; (p.1). Franklin claims that; rarely does society step outside of the house to live, when compared with generations past. The goal for leaving the house is not to enter the natural environment, because in Franklin's terms 'environment essentially means what is around us… that constructed, manufactured, built environment that is the day-in-day-out [sic] setting of much of the contemporary world of technology.'; (p.89). Nature today is seen as a construct instead of as a 'force or entity with its own dynamics.'; (p.85). The book claims that society vies nature the same way as society views infrastructure as 'something that is there to accommodate us, to facilitate or be part of our lives, subject to our planning.'; (p.85). Franklin writes in-depth about infrastructure and especially technological infrastructure. She claims that since the Industrial Revolution, corporations as well as governments using public funds...
Alexa offers danger and benefits to American people. In order to work Alexa has to be listening all the time, so she can be quite dangers. As Amazon Echo said “To work Echo is always listening.” This quote shows how Alexa is a negative because she is always on and listening so when she hears her name she can respond. Alexa, however is not all cons. She has some pros but it is hard to overlook the fact that she is never off. This is a reason Alexa might be a dangerous household item.