Does Priestly Succeed In Presenting A Convincing Left-Wing Message In An Inspector Calls?
Does Priestly Succeed In Presenting A Convincing Left-Wing Message In An Inspector Calls? I think that Priestly gave a convincing left-wing message but only to a certain extent. I think that the play is biased because it is stating a left-wing message from a left-wing point of view. The play was performed in Moscow in 1945, at this time Moscow was a left-wing country so therefore, producing a left-wing play for those who are already left-wing is showing bias. The play itself was set in 1912, at this time the characters within the play did not know that there was going to be two world wars and that the titanic was going to sink. This gives the audience the power of retrospection, a feeling of smugness and smartness within themselves. I think that it is slightly ironic that the inspector accuses Birling that he is smug and thinks he is better than others, and we ourselves the audience are acting in a similar way. The inspector symbolises Priestley’s own left-wing views by stating “ We don’t all live alone we are all members of one body.” Within the playwright Birling makes predictions however with the power of retrospection the audience know that his predictions were incorrect. I do not think that we can blame Birling for his incorrect predictions because he cannot see into the future and was only making an educated guess. However I could understand why someone would blame him as his predictions were from a very right-wing point of view. Within the playwright Birling criticizes other left-wing playwrights, I think this could help the audience believe that such playwrights might have a message worth listening to because it shows that it is the opposite of what Birling agrees with and so far all Birling’s predictions have been wrong. A contemporary
audience may feel slightly emotional by the Inspector’s threat to the Birling’s if they do not adopt a left-wing philosophy because they would have lost family members in the two wars. The inspector predicted the two wars in his ‘fire and anguish’ speech. The inspector says that we are all responsible for each other and that there are many others like Eva Smiths, who are all entwined in our lives and are affected by what we say and do. He predicts the wars by saying “If men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire ...
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audience may feel slightly emotional by the Inspector’s threat to the Birling’s if they do not adopt a left-wing philosophy because they would have lost family members in the two wars. The inspector predicted the two wars in his ‘fire and anguish’ speech. The inspector says that we are all responsible for each other and that there are many others like Eva Smiths, who are all entwined in our lives and are affected by what we say and do. He predicts the wars by saying “If men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish”. This could be poignant for a contemporary audience because it is a very blunt way of saying that their relatives are going to be involved and possibly not live through two terrible wars. This could persuade the audience to adopt a left-wing view because they do not want similar events to happen to them, therefore preventing another war, which could be worse than the last two. They could feel guilty, will learn to appreciate life and therefore will give to others, making their country more civil to live in. I think that Priestley’s dramatic tactics are too blunt and harsh, giving the sense of cold heartedness. Priestley wrights that the inspector should quote ‘fire and anguish’ then immediately leaves, this may create a brilliant dramatic affect but it may leave the audience feeling shocked and dismayed. Within the playwright the Birling family and Gerald are right-wing, they have many bad character traits which are portrayed throughout the whole story. Arthur Birling, the head of the house and the spokesperson for his family, is very smug and arrogant because of his families success . As a consequence of this success he is unable to see that without help from others he would not be as rich as he is. Without the workers in the factory Arthur Birling would be nothing and would have no money. I think that because he is living in comfort he has no concern for those who are not. We can see this when Birling refuses to increase the salary for five young girls who simply could not make a living on the small sum that he was paying them at the time. After their request Birling sacked the girls making sure that they had absolutely no income and his salary went up. From this we can see that Birling was a selfish man who cared a lot more for himself than he cared for others. Sheila, Birling’s daughter, vice is the fact that she thinks she is beautiful and better than anyone else. She is very proud of her appearance, and is jealous of any one else who is more beautiful than her. “She was a very pretty girl too - with big dark eyes - and that didn’t make it any better” . From this quote we can see that Sheila had Eva sacked from Milwards because she looked better in the dress than she did, this made Sheila very jealous of Eva. Sheila believes that because she has more money than most she is more worthy and important. Sybil, the women of the house, is guilty of many things but I think that the worst character trait she has is her narrowed-mindedness. She is in her own rich world and does not know that life exists beyond her and her family. To her the poor are people who are all the same, untrustworthy and worth less than her. She is very proud and will not admit that she is ever wrong. “I’ve done nothing wrong - and you know it”, even though Sybil did dismiss Eva and deny her any help, Sybil still believes she is innocent and did nothing wrong. Sybil believes that she is more important and greater than anyone else. Sybil thinks that every poor person is a stereotype , I think this is hypocritical, since she is a stereotypical rich, right-wing women who only cares for herself. Eric, the son of Birling, thinks very highly of himself and is self indulged. Eric treated Eva very badly, he did not consider what consequences his actions might have had and just went around doing as he pleased. Eric lived at home with his parents, as he was not responsible enough to own his own house, he could not look after money and did not know its true value. Eric shows he was irresponsible when he said that he wasn’t in love with Eva, she was just pretty and a good sport. This shows that he got involved with her, without thinking of the trouble and hurt it could cause. When Eric found out Eva was pregnant, he stole money from his father and offered it to her, again showing dishonesty, irresponsibility and the inability to value money. Gerald, Sheila’s fiancé, was responsible of being dishonest and a cheat. “I was awfully busy at the works all that time”. Gerald lied to Sheila by telling her that he was at work the whole time rather than telling her the truth that he was having an affair with Eva. Whilst Gerald was seeing Eva he took advantage of her as she is less fortunate than him and needed his help. Within the play the inspector is portrayed to be omniscient, omnipotent and just. In being this the inspector is shown as a G-d like figure whom all the characters slightly fear. Whereas all the characters are shown to be imperfect like the audience, thus making it more believable. I think that a G-d like figure that is politically biased is believable because he would want the world to be at peace and would not want everyone fighting and taking advantage of each other. Therefore the G-d like figure would adopt a left-wing point of view so that he can act fairly on those he is guiding and persuade them to do good in this world. The final message in this play is that the younger generation adopt a left-wing perspective whereas the older generation seem incapable of redemption. Sheila and Eric , the youngest in the family finally seem capable of redemption and admit they have done wrong. Towards the end of the play they begin to realise that one must watch their actions closely because there are consequences for every one. They believe that that they should look after others, be caring, selfless and that everyone in this world is equal (socialism and communism). However the older generations of the Birlings refuse to adopt a left-wing perspective. They stay right-wing and deny the fact that they were wrong, they do not want to be left-wing. They want to look after themselves and only themselves, they are uncaring, selfish, greedy and they believe in capitalism. At the point when Birling is about to face up to his wrong doing, Priestley causes Gerald to interrupt. This is showing that Priestley is trying to portray that right-wing characters cannot redeem themselves. Gerald cannot change and reform to a left-wing perspective. The upper class, who are symbolised by Gerald are also shown to be unable of redemption because they are too socially distant from the working class. I think that the inspectors message that ‘everyone should look after everyone else’, is an idealistic way of thinking as it is not practical in the world we live in today. It is too simplistic and harder to fulfil than it sounds. There is no omniscient guide in real life, we have to look out for each other but only to a certain extent. After watching the play one should take care of his actions and be aware of the fact that there are consequences, we should take care of others but also take care of ourselves. There will always be those who need more care than others and I think we should concentrate on helping them before we try to support everyone. Overall I do agree with this statement but I fell that is easier said than done.
