Who Is The Most Responsible For Eva's Death In An Inspector Calls

An Inspector Calls is a three-act drama, which takes place on a single night in 1912, and focuses on the Birling family, who live in a wealthy but not particulary homely house in Brumley. The story begins when the mysterious Inspector Goole calls unexpectedly on the prosperous Birling family. The idea of the play, and particularly the role of the inspector, is to try to bring the Birling family to understand that they have a moral responsibility for the death of Eva Smith, if not a legal one. In Act Three, the Inspector tells the Birling family: “The girl killed herself and died a horrible death. But each of you helped to kill her. Remember that. Never forget it.” But who was really the

The characters of Sheila and Eric are important in the play as; Priestley introduces them to be coming from a trouble-free, spoiled and wealthy family background where there are no problems, although later we find out that this is not the case.

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

she must have just gave up there was nothing left for her to do she

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 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.

The play ‘An Inspector Calls’ is set in the North Midlands, the industrial city of Brumley in 1912. The play revolves around the death of a young girl named Eva Smith and the wealthy, middle class Birling family. The Birling family consists of four main members. In addition, there is Gerald Croft who is engaged to the daughter of the family, Sheila Birling, and the maid Edna who plays a small role in the play.

can see that Sheila is in favour of getting all the facts out in the

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

When Carver mentioned “Marta no longer saw just groups of carefree people inside the apartments; at times there were even some businesses where the employees, in black or blue aprons, were sitting at desks in long rows” (Buzzati 2). During her fall, she observed the shift between the wealthy and those who are impoverished. The building as a whole depicted class division where the rich were dominant known at the top of the hierarchy and others working hard placed at the bottom.

Sheila is portrayed as a beautiful young lady in her early twenties with a rather selfish and arrogant nature. Using her compelling personality she is able to obtain anything in which she desires through her father. She makes inconsequential remarks and speaks in a childish manner. However she is the only one to accept immediate responsibility for her role in Eva Smith’s death, making her most probably the furthermost sympathetic character throughout the play. She is horrified by her own part in Eva's death; she feels full of guilt for her jealous actions and blames herself and she is genuinely remorseful for her actions. She is very perceptive towards the inspector, first to wonder who he really is, realising he already knows much of what

Cassie cried herself to sleep each night. Everything was a blur. Helpless dread filled her soul. She was grateful Eli had come home. At least he was for now. The following week there was a blinking light on the answering machine when Cassie came home. She pressed play as she kicked off her shoes from another long day.

The narrator cracked during the section when the police didn’t leave because the narrator began to hear strange noises and became impatient.

During my experiences in and out of the country, I have noticed, everywhere in the world, that the lower class is being discriminated against. Poverty is the society’s way of perpetually dehumanizing people and subjecting them to unlivable conditions while calling it just (Taniguchi). Years ago in 1895, Dickens published A Tale of Two Cities, in which he highlighted that “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times” (Dickens 7). Unfortunately, this is still a fact today. The wealthy are in their best times while the poor are being oppressed against.

how Eva killing her son by stating that “ She rolled a bit of newspaper into a tight stick about six