An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley Essay -- Inspector Calls Priestle

An Inspector Calls by J.B. PriestleyAn Inspector Calls, by J.B. Priestly, is the story of the escort by anInspector to an apparently normal family, the birlings. They arecelebrating Sheila Birlings engagement to Gerald Croft, who is excessivelypresent, when the Inspector arrives telling them of the suicide of ayoung girl called Eva Smith. At basic they deny any knowledge of thegirl, but as the play goes on the Inspector manages to show that theyall helped kill her. Mr Birling had her dismissed from his factory fordemanding a small increase in wages Sheila ordered her to bedismissed from her job in a shop simply because of her pride GeraldCroft kept her as his mistress before leaving her suddenly EricBirling (Mr & Mrs Birlings son) also had an affair with the girl andstole money to keep her living and Mrs Birling used her find out todeny help to Eva Smith when she needed it most, driving her tosuicide.After the Inspectors visit we can see which of the characters havelearned their lesson from what the Inspector has said and which are securely clinging to their old beliefs. The differing attitudesbetween the older and younger characters are shown by theirconversations following the Inspectors departure.It is Birlings speech in Act 1 that sets the scene for the action inthe play. Birling is confidently talking to Eric and Gerald about whathe thinks about the future. He thinks of everything in business terms(for example, he says to Gerald that he hopes that his firm andGeralds fathers will become partners) and also is a man who thinksthat a man should make his own way in life and does non believe inliving in a community. He disregards the people who preach thisphilos... ...ia and the Germans invaded Belgium, sending Britain and Franceinto battle. The result was a hellish war in which millions died. Hadthe countries been able to live together then there would not havebeen a war. The fact that the play was written in the midst of theSecond ball War suggests t hat Priestly was saying that the lessons ofwhat happened in the First World War had not been learned.In summary, An Inspector Calls details the differing attitudes of theBirling family to the events leading to Eva Smiths death and how theyaccept the responsibility for their actions. The older characters aretoo rigid to assortment but the younger ones are able to see their faultsand accept what they have done is wrong. The play also reflectsvarious cultural, social and historical, which reflect on the epochboth in which the play is set in and when it was written.