Who's Responsible for the Death of Eva Smith?

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Who's Responsible for the Death of Eva Smith?

'An Inspector Calls' is a play written by J.B. Priestly. Although the

play was set in 1912, it was actually written in 1947. It was written

after the events that were mentioned in the play, like the First World

War and the sinking of the 'Titanic'. It is thought that J. B.

Priestly's experience in World War One inspired him to write a story

about how cruelly humans treat each other. In the 1910's there was a

lot of cruelty and discrimination because of the different classes.

The upper classes were cruel to the lower class because they were

poorer and worked for the upper classes. Priestly wrote the play to

make people aware of the social differences and how nasty people treat

each other. If the upper classes were less pompous and treated the

lower classes the same as everybody else, the country's wealth would

be more evenly spread so there wouldn't be as much discrimination.

'An Inspector Calls' is a play which forces the audience to realise

that every judgement made, every action taken, has an effect on

another person.

Priestly was well known for his involvement in human rights issues. He

became known as 'The voice of the common people'

The play 'An Inspector Calls' was written to show an audience about

human cruelty. The inspector was there to show the family how nasty

they are and he is trying to make them think about what they have done

to make Eva kill herself. The inspector may have represented J.B.

Priestly and he used the family to show the audience how he feels

about the cruelty that goes on.

The Inspector could have been a spirit, the name sounds like ghoul -

Goole. He could have been representing the ghost of Eva Smith and he

was trying to show the family how much they made Eva suffer. This can

be shown by what the inspector said:

"A pretty, lively sort of girl who never did anybody any harm. But she

died in misery and agony-hating life-" and "She was here alone,

friendless, almost penniless, desperate. She needed not only money but

advice, sympathy, friendliness."

The inspector may have represented the voice of conscience. Priestly

based the inspector on his views of every day society. The inspector

was annoyed with the upper classes because of the way they treated the

lower classes. That might be the way Priestly thought and he was

trying to get his points of view noticed by putting them into a play

where many people would take notice. Priestly was also trying to say

that society as a whole is responsible for tragedies, no one person

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