IN THIS PLAY, WHAT IS PRIESTLEY TRYING TO SAY ABOUT SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY"

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Done by: - Dhara Bakhai

“IN THIS PLAY, WHAT IS PRIESTLEY TRYING TO SAY ABOUT SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY”

                      An inspector call is a play written by JB Priestly in 1945. Although the play is written in 1945, it is originally set in 1912 to illustrate the audience a more dramatic look at the relationship between the wealthy and the poor. It also allows Mr Birling’s predictions to fail. The play shows an impressive contrast of the younger and older generations. The play is based on various themes such as pride and status. For example, Mr and Mrs Birling think that people like Eva Smith are cheap labour and working class. The main themes of the play are society and community. JB Priestly, a socialist, believed that we are a community and have a responsibility to look after each other. On the other hand, Mr Birling is a capitalist, who believes that a man should only look after himself and his family.

 

                    The play shows a gap between the young generations and the old generations. In the older generation, we have Mr and Mrs Birling who are refusing to accept their responsibility and their mistakes and instead are trying to justify themselves. In contrast, we have the younger generations like Sheila and Eric who have accepted their mistakes and are willing to take the responsibility.

The play was set in 1912, which was just before World War I when there was a vast status difference in society.

                   One of the main characters in the play is Mr Birling who is a selfish man. His thoughts of life are that a person should just look after himself and not bother about anyone else- “a man has to mind his own business and look after himself – and his family”. He has views that no one can depend on anyone else. He is a person who is always lecturing people thinking that he is always right and does not give anyone else a chance to speak. He is a selfish man who does not worry about anyone else and tries to find his own profit. He even tries to find profit in his daughter’s wedding. “and perhaps we may look forward to the time when Crofts and Birlings are no longer competing but are working together.”

The quotation shows that he is more concerned in profit making business then his daughter’s wedding.

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In the play, “An Inspector Calls” Priestly shows Mr Birling as a man who believes in status difference. He says “community and all that is nonsense”. The word “nonsense” suggests that he is a capitalist who does not believe in society and community, especially in JB Priestley’s belief that everyone should look after each other. Priestly shows Mr Birling as a man who thinks he is always right and is very confident about the predictions that he makes. “the titanic…unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable”. “the world is developing so fast that it’ll make war impossible”. Here priestly is proving Mr Birling’s predictions ...

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