“She’d had a lot to say-far too much-she had to go.”
The second person to be questioned was Sheila she made a complaint about Eva when she finally found a new job, this complaint got Eva sacked Sheila felt guilty and responsible for the suicide of the girl. The evidence which shows Sheila felt guilty us given in the words.
“ I felt rotten about it at the time and now I feel a lot worse.”
The next person to be questioned was Gerald he helped Eva until he fulfilled his lust. After being questioned Gerald is genuinely sorry for what he has done. After having questioned him the next person to e questioned was Mrs. Burling she refused Eva help when she needed it most and after having been questioned she showed no remorse for what she did. Evidence that she shows no remorse is given in the words.
“I accept no blame at all.”
The last person to be questioned by the inspector was Eric he got Eva smith pregnant after a drunken night and then ditched her but like his sister he felt guilty for his actions.
One other thing, which keeps the audience on the edge of their seats, is the cliffhangers at the end of each act. The cliffhanger at the end of Act one is when Sheila and Gerald leave the main room and Sheila tells Gerald that he must confess and tell the inspector the truth as the inspector already knows the truth and if he lied he would just get into further complications. Evidence that Sheila says this is given in the words.
“Why you fool he knows. Of course he knows. And I hate to think how much he knows that we don't know yet.”
But when Gerald cannot come to an agreement on telling the truth the inspector comes out of the main room and confronts Sheila and Gerald by saying “well”? This makes the audience wonder whether Sheila’s theories about the inspector knowing everything were true and if how was this possible, this keeps the audience curious. The cliffhanger at the end of Act two happens when Mrs. Burling insists that whoever got Eva smith pregnant should suffer the consequences and get severely get punished, but just as Eric is about to enter the room the inspector breaks the news to her that her son Eric is the father, but Mrs. Burling refuses to believe as shown in the words. “I don't believe it I won't believe it
All of this then makes us wonder whether the inspector is telling the truth and if so will he punish the father of Eva’s child (Eric) which Mrs. Burling insisted he should do, all of this is very nail biting for the audience. And lastly the cliffhanger at the end of Act three was who is the inspector? And how did he know the girl was going to die before she actually died? All of this keeps the audience wanting to read more.
Another thing that keeps the audience interested in the play is the character of inspector goole. Inspector goole gives the impression of being a very commanding and authoritative person in his speech and in his personal presence he: “creates at once an impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness”. Inspector goole also seems to be a very manipulative and dominating character he dominates other characters, even Mr and Mrs. Burling who are not used to being dominated “(As Burling tries to protest, it turns on him) Don't stammer and yammer at me again, man. I'm losing all patience with you people”. What did she say?” After this outburst, Mrs. Burling is “rather cowed”. The inspector also seems unintimidated and unfazed by the threats that Mr Burling seems to be hinting at him, suggesting he has friends in high places e.g. colonel Roberts. Evidence of this is given in the words
“Perhaps I ought to warn you that he is an old friend of mine”.
The fact that he seems unfazed suggests that he had expected this reaction and planned this before hand. This builds up the tension. We also find out how manipulative the inspector can be, as does Sheila who discovers the psychological advantage the inspector has over them and tries to stop her mother from making the same mistake as she did. The evidence of this is given in the words “Mother – stop stop”. As well as being manipulative inspector goole has a keen morale sense and is enraged at what has happened to Eva Smith the evidence of that is given in the words
“She died in misery and agony hating life”. Evidence that shows the inspector is very moralistic is given in the words
“We don't live alone, we are members of one body, and we are responsible for each other”. And lastly another thing, which keeps the audience, interested in the inspector, is the mystery of who he really is and the fact that he seems omniscient. Although there are many possibilities I believe inspector goole is someone, which Priestly used to voice his own views.
As well as the inspector, J.b Priestly captures our interest when we try to unravel the mystery of whether it was one girl or many other girls which were involved with each member of Burling family and Gerald. Whether it was one or five different girls badly treated by the Burling’s is big mystery that keeps the audience fascinated by the play. There is a distinct possibility that it was five different girls rather than one as the inspector was very cunning, when he showed each member of the Burling family and Gerald the picture of the girl individually. This puts a huge question mark on whether it was only one girls as he could of showed the whole family the picture of the girl together if it was only one. But in the end it is not of huge importance whether its one girl or five, all that matters is that a girl died because of the selfishness that Burling’s and Gerald showed.
The masterpiece of ‘An Inspector Calls” is play in which many genres combine together to give you a nail biting thriller. The genres this play consists of are mystery, tragedy, and morality all of these genres combined captures the imaginations of the audience. In the play there are many examples of mystery one of the mysteries, which take place in the play is the identity of inspector Goole this mystery keeps the audience hooked. As well as mystery there is also an example of tragedy taking place in which Eva Smith commits suicide after deciding she cannot withstand the burden of life any longer. Evidence that shows Eva Smith dies is given in the words
“A girl has just died on her way to the infirmary”.
The suicides of Eva captures the heart of the audience who feel she has been treated unfairly and are curious to see if justice will be done. Lastly this is also a morality play as each character in the play represents something, Mr Burling represent greed and his wife Mrs. Burling represents Selfishness, and out of the younger generation Gerald and Eric both represent lust whilst Sheila represents Jealousy.
There are many ways in the play ‘An Inspector Calls’ keeps and retains our interest the play. One of the ways it keeps our interest and retains it throughout the play is the unsolved mystery of who the inspector might and how possessed so much knowledge about the Burling’s and Gerald. The play also captures attention from the audience as it delivers a strong message that being greedy and only thinking about yourself leads to severe consequences. The main way in which ‘an Inspector Calls’ captures and retains our interest is by giving many hints that things are not as they seem and then revealing the truth behind them. An example of this is the way in which we learn about each member of the Burling family and Gerald’s involvement with the death of Eva Smith.
