How Far Is 'An Inspector Calls' A Vehicle For Preistley's Socialist Ideas? What Is The Play's Message?

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Coursework: How Far Is ‘An Inspector Calls’ A Vehicle For Preistley’s

Socialist Ideas? What Is The Play’s Message?

‘An Inspector Calls’ is, in many ways, a vehicle used by Priestley to spread and promote his socialist views. By utilising the characters’ various dispositions and juxtaposing them against one and other, he highlights his message and creates a powerful dramatic piece. By employing such techniques as dramatic irony, hindsight and a clever setting, Priestley sends his eye-opening message and keeps both reader and audience interested through the stunning revelations at the end of each act.

        The play is about an upper-middle class family that is visited by an inspector regarding the suicide of a young woman by the name of Eva Smith. The inspector arrives in the middle of a celebration of the daughter (Sheila) and her engagement to the wealthy Gerald Croft. With the minimum of questioning, the family reveals many things about themselves that links them all to the death. When the inspector leaves, the family discover he wasn’t a real police inspector at all and are relieved (save Sheila and Eric) to find out from the infirmary, that there has been no suicide. Shortly after this, the police call and tell them there has been a suicide and police inspector will be calling to discuss the matter. The plot thickens act by act and the unbelievable climax at the end of each one urges reader to keep reading and audience to keep watching.

        The writer often ridicules the Birling family using hindsight and dramatic irony. He makes Mr. Birling say laughable things that make him (in the audience’s eyes) absolutely foolish.

        ‘The Germans don’t want war. Nobody wants war, except some half-civilised folks in the Balkans.’

        Because of the fact that this play is set in 1912 but was written in 1944, the audience and reader will know that there have been in fact two world wars; this makes the audience realise how idiotic Birling is. Further alienating him from the audience (and thusly making he and his views seem less stable and unreliable; which then seems a terrible way to run society), are the things he says about the Titanic being: ‘unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable.’

        The amount of things that Birling says things that the audience knows to be false, all aid in discrediting capitalist viewpoints. In doing so, Priestley causes the audience to wonder if society shouldn’t be run in another way; maybe they should vote try Labour.

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        By humiliating Birling like this, Priestley degrades the conservative and capitalist viewpoints. This is intended to make people rethink their current political standpoint and reconsider the labour party for power. In contrast to this, is the Inspector who is clearly a socialist. The Inspector reminds us of our responsibilities for each other:

        ‘All intertwined with our lives, and what we think and say and do. We don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other.’

        By making the Inspector say this, Priestley shows how sensible the socialist ideal is. He makes people realise that ...

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