How ‘An Inspector Calls’ invites us to apportion blame for the death oF Eva Smith.

Right from the start of the play the audience are kept alert and slightly uneasy by the fact that there are several references the impossibility of war. Such as on page six when Mr Birlings says, "I say there isn't a chance of war." The audience know that there is a certain reason why certain characters are making incorrect predictions. This makes the audience want to find out the reason for this idiotic behaviour.

Priestley brings a lot of important social events into the play such as the sinking of the Titanic and the Second World War. He also uses dramatic irony to make the audience feel cleverer and more knowledgeable than the characters. Like on page 6 when Mr Birling says "I say there isn't a chance of war" and the audience know that 2 years later was the start of World War I. This takes Mr Birling from being the most 'important' or 'knowledgeable' character in the play and makes him seem blind to the obvious. He also develops the characters so that he can get his opinions about society across in the play. He makes the audience think about social events a lot throughout the play but also make the play interesting and exciting. He does this by using twists and climaxes in each act to add another dimension to the play. He does this when we find out about Gerald having an affair with Eva Smith on Pages 34-37 during act 2. The audience thinks that Gerald, not one of the Birlings, has nothing to do with Eva and are therefore very surprised to find out that he had a 6 month affair with her.

From reading the play you get the impression that Priestley has strong communist views on society. You get the impression because he uses the Birlings to show how, in his opinion, the rich people are very ignorant and really don't care about the poor or working classes. Priestley gets his views across through the characters. He makes each character responsible for Eva's death but their individual involvements seem far too small to cause her to commit suicide. When you see all the different events that have happened to Eva you see that when they are all put together they could easily make her want to commit suicide. This shows that Priestley believes that we all affect each other and we are all responsible for each other's actions.

Priestley has made Mr and Mrs Birling very stuck up and posh and makes them come across as disliking and objectifying the poor/working class. He does this by using lines such as "she was a lively good-looking girl - country bred." (page 14). Mr Birling also comes across as very avaricious and sees women as a commodity. This is shown on page 12 when the inspector tells Mr Birling that Eva Smith used to work for him and he says "...well, we've several hundred young women there y'know, and they keep changing."

Priestly invites us to apportion the blame for Eva's death by clearly showing each character's involvement with Eva smith. Instead of showing the audience that one character had a much worse affect on Eva he spreads the blame equally between all the characters which then means that the audience are left hanging on to find out who really was responsible for her death

As we discover each character's relation to Eva Smith we try to predict who is going to end up with the blame for her death. The many twists and turns in the plot make it difficult to form consistent opinions. The complex plot keeps the audience fully focused as the play unfolds. Part of the enjoyment comes from interpreting all the clues throughout the play.

We then find out that all the questioning that the inspector had done wasn't actually by an inspector. They are then left wondering who the 'fake' inspector was. It is more than a coincidence that the 'Inspector' was called Goole. When you think 'goole' you think of ghosts. Ghosts are things that aren't really real just like the inspector wasn't really an inspector.

The good thing about 'An Inspector Calls' is that it is still very appropriate to a modern audience because many of the social events and problems from when the period the play was set, are still around about today, such as the threat of war between different countries and religions. It also still applies to a modern audience because J.B Priestley's views on society are still shared by many people today.

Steven livesey