“And I say there isn’t a chance of war… the Titanic she sails next week- forty- six thousand eight hundred tons- New York in five days- and every luxury- and unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable.” But for the Working class it looked very unfortunate because they had nothing, so they thought that life was going to be like this time for the rest of eternity.
Another point that Priestly was trying to show was the difference between socialism and capitalism because in 1912 there were two groups of people the ‘socialists’ and the ‘capitalists’. The socialist in this play was the Inspector he believed that everyone should look after each other “We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other.” While Mr. Birling a ‘capitalist’ he believed that everyone should look after himself or herself and nobody else. “A man has to make his own way- look after himself and his family too… But some cranks talk and write now, you’d think everybody has to look after everybody else, as if we were all mixed up together like bees in a hive- community and all that nonsense.”
Priestley in his play ‘An Inspector Calls’ was trying to show people that the better way of living was with socialism because everyone looks after each other. He writes this in his play because he wrote the play after the second world war when everyone was in shock and buildings were destroyed so everyone needed to pull together and rebuild there own countries.
It can also be seen that Priestley was trying to show the difference between the young people and the older characters, he shows this in the play once at the beginning “I think it’s a dam ‘shame… Why shouldn’t this Eva Smith and the other girls try for higher wages?” Eric says this. Then a lot at the end when they find out that he was not a real police inspector and the girl isn’t dead. The adults carry on as if nothing has happened. “But the whole thing’s different now. Come, come, you can see that, can’t you? You all helped kill her. And I wish you could have seen the look on your faces when he said that.” Mr. Birling said that. But the younger ones don’t carry on as if nothings happened they carry on as if the girl’s dead. “ So nothing really happened. So there’s nothing to be sorry for, nothing to learn. We can all go on behaving just as we did…I tell you- whoever that inspector was, it was nothing but a joke. You knew it then. You began to learn something. And now you’ve stopped. You’re ready to go on in the same old way.” Sheila says this.
Priestley was also trying to achieve to show the audience the double standards to show the double standards of the characters. For example Gerald who helps Eva when she was down but tries to get what he can from her. “ In fact she hadn’t a penny and was going to be turned out of the miserable back room she had. It happened that a friend of mine Charlie Brunswick, had gone off to Canada for six months and had let me have the key of a nice little set of rooms he had- Morgan Terrace- so I let her stay there.” Gerald says this. Also Mrs. Birling who is part of a charity which helps young women but refuses to help Eva Smith, “ After questioning her she had no claim to the name, that she wasn’t married, and her story was false… and so I used my influence to have it refused!” Mrs. Birling said that.
Priestley also shows how one man (the Inspector Goole) can take on a whole family such as the Birlings. Who in 1912 were above a police inspector? Priestley also makes the police in this play interrogates the other characters in turn and makes them squirm, and also makes them feel responsible for the girl’s death. This makes the play more interesting then just a plain old boring plot.
All of the ingredients combined make this play entertaining and also educational. Because there is just on man who makes a whole family turn against them, and also makes them feel guilty of a crime. Also at the end when they all feel guilty then right at the end they find out that a girl has just died it makes you think about the play. The reason why it is educational is because the play sort of gives you a history lesson because you can see the different class system and what they think about the girl because of what class she was in.
