An Inspector Calls - J.B.Priestly -

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English coursework – Nassar Ahmad 11D

“An Inspector Calls”-J.B.Priestly

GCSE Coursework assignment:

“Which characters in the play do you like most.

And which do you like least? Say why!”

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        The inspector arrives at the Birling’s house in the evening, during a family get-together to celebrate the engagement of their daughter to Gerald Croft. The inspector questions every member of the family individually, starting with Mr. Birling. Mr & Mrs Birling who do not like the way the inspector is interrogating them, get angry with him, and accuse him of being rude. However Sheila, Mr & Mrs Birling’s daughter, and Gerald are honest, and can face their mistakes. This is one of the reasons why I like Sheila and Gerald, and dislike Mr & Mrs Birling.

        Sheila is a young and pretty girl, who is honest and likes it when other people are truthful. We know this because when the Inspector shows her the photograph of Eva Smith, she says, “You knew it was me all the time, didn’t you?” Here she admits straightaway that she had a part to play in the death of Eva Smith. Unlike Mr & Mrs Birling who put up excuses every time the Inspector catches them out. As I have said before she also likes it when other people are sincere. We know this because when the Inspector is questioning Gerald about his affair with Eva Smith he asks him if he was in love with her. At first Gerald hesitates to come out with the truth but when he gets persuaded by Sheila to tell the truth he says, “All right-I did for a time. Nearly every man would have done.” Sheila’s reply to that is “That’s probably about the best thing you’ve said tonight. At least it’s honest.” Sheila objects to her parents attempts to protect her from unpleasant truths; ‘…I’m not a child, don’t forget. I’ve a right to know.’ At the end of the play she feels that, whilst for a time it had seemed as though her parents had learnt something about themselves and their society, once they saw a ‘way out’, they simply returned to how they were at the beginning. Sheila has an attractive and essentially honest character, and lacks the cold-blooded attitude of her parents. Her unpleasant complaint against Eva is probably the most helpless action of all. The only positive feature is that Sheila felt bad about it at the time, regretted it deeply later, and is honest enough to admit her share of the responsibility for Eva’s suicide. When she finds out that she had a part to play in her death she becomes sympathetic and says, ‘…if I could help her now, I would.’ This shows her condolence for the girl.  

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        Gerald is the second character I like in the play; he is also young and truthful. Gerald’s first desire is to cover up his involvement with Eva, when the Inspector asks him about the girl Gerald says, ‘Where did you get the idea that I knew her?’ here Gerald tries to hide his relationship with Eva Smith, but its no use and he has to admit it in the end. However unlike Mr and Mrs Birling, he shows genuine sorrow when the news of her death finally sinks in. When Eva’s death hits him properly he becomes shocked and ...

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