Essay on J.B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls

Birlings' house. He is said to "need not be a big man but he creates

see that this is true by looking at his speech and at the manner in

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.

In contrast to Mr and Mrs Birling, Priestley sets up the younger generation (Eric and Sheila) as reformed characters to contrast with the older generation, who are too set in their ways,"[sarcastically] so nothing really happened. So there's nothing to be sorry for, nothing to learn. We can all go on behaving just as we did". Again we must remember that Eric and Sheila are just caricatures of the younger generation, who have the capacity to learn and to carry Priestley's message.

he a question he will now answer it, he will just ask a question back.

In the play 'An Inspector Calls', many contrasts and paradox's are present and at the centre of them all is the character known as Inspector Goole. However, the inspector is not any ordinary inspector. I believe that the inspector is used as a device by Priestley to explore the wider themes of the play and to depict other characters true personalities. This essay will explore some of the techniques Priestley presents the inspector in An Inspector Calls.

command at the end of Act I and the start of Act 2, and the end of Act

you turn in, you might have to turn out again soon." This is giving a

for each other. And I tell you that a time will soon come when if men

A number of other issues that were around at the time the play was set

Birling strongly believes that “a man has to make his own way – has to

An inspector calls is a play which is used as a warning illustrates the clear division between higher and lower class but also between the two different generations. When we are first introduced to Mr Birling and Eric it is apparent that neither of them enjoy each others company and that they do not sustain a healthy father son relationship. Both character have different priorities as Mr Birling chooses business and welfare over his son, whilst Eric chooses drinking over socialising with his family. Mr Birling, a very conceited man, illustrates the greed of wealth and reputation in the higher class society, so much so that he pushed his son away to allow his future son-in-law Gerald to take main priority.

For instance, it is as if he is waiting for everyone to confess to his

this is his role in the events of the play. This, and the fact that

visit of Inspector Goole. But who is Inspector Goole? And who is the girl whose