What inspired Priestley? What made him write 'An Inspector Calls' and why set it before World War One?

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Raymond Broderick English – ‘An Inspector Calls’ Assignment

            “If men will not learn that lesson, they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish.” This is an extremely powerful quotation that the Inspector leaves us with. Without a doubt these words are very true. In 1914 World War One began and all this fire, blood and anguish became reality. Britain had entered a four-year war that would have an unimaginable effect on her people. Thousands of towns, cities, homes and businesses were destroyed. Millions of people, men the majority, died horrific deaths. Limbs blown off in explosions, bodies burnt alive in scorching heat, shells blasting, bombs lighting up the dark night, poison gas smothering trenches - trapping screaming victims below its green deadly surface. One can only imagine the pain, agony and shear devastation and lost of human life. The war ended in 1918 and much of Europe including England was left destroyed. For people like Mr. Birling it was time to rethink. Is it every man for himself? Is community nonsense? This could be one function of the Inspector; to get the Birlings, especially Mr. Birling, to care for others and accept responsibility before it is too late.

             Only twenty-one years later in 1939 another war broke out in Europe. World War Two lasted for six years, an extra two years of fighting the enemy. In 1945 the war ended. In that same year ‘An Inspector Calls’, the play that I will be analysing was written. John Boynton Priestley the author set his play in 1912, before these terrifying events. This is very significant in order for his play to work effectively, as the themes included in the play are one way or another, directly related to this time and the years and events that will follow.

‘An Inspector Calls’ covers very clearly a variety of different themes and ideas that Priestley is concerned about in society. He uses the Inspector as the main character, or one could say a tool, to express these themes and ideas to the audience. The sort of ideas Priestley is concerned about in society and is trying to ‘show’ are the aspects of: responsibility, community, lies and truth, honesty and self-deception, equality, social snobbery and double standards. I will be covering these aspects and indeed many more as I progress through this assignment.

What inspired Priestley? What made him write ‘An Inspector Calls’ and why set it before World War One? The answer lies in his life before the year of 1945. To answer these questions we must first establish and be aware of the following background information. The Edwardian times seemed to be a very exciting and secure time for Britain and many of her people. She was quickly advancing in industry and technology. Her armed forces were also growing and obviously she was extremely wealthy. For the people living in the upper class society times were good however millions were not having such a good time. For the millions struggling there seemed to be no hope, there was no legislation to save workers from exploitation which of course was occurring in factories all over the country and no Welfare State to support these living such a poor life if times were very bad. The Inspector (Priestley in one sense) could see that this is not the right sort of society and that it had to change otherwise severe consequences would follow. The play is based around this Edwardian society and the Inspector tries his best to cover these important issues and express them to the Birlings in order to make them see what it is like for the other people, not just their breed.

Priestley was born into a middle class family and did not suffer like the lower classes, however, this doesn’t necessarily mean he did not know what was going on or how these people felt. Priestley as a young man spent four years on the battlefield fighting against the Nazi enemy in World War One. During this war Priestley on numerous occasions, narrowly escaped death, this period in his life allowed him to look at life differently and without a doubt he was directly influenced by these experiences. These four years were the platform which he could build upon. Now with his ideas Priestley needed a suitable date to set his play, the most appropriate date was the year 1912.

By specifically choosing to write ‘An Inspector Calls’ after World War Two and by including the material he has done and indeed the Inspector, Priestley could very effectively attract and hold his audience, as many of them felt the way he did and had lived through the wars and shared his experiences. As a result of the wars everyone was brought together. Everyone united as one country and worked together to defeat the Nazis. The children were brought together by evacuations, the women working in factories to produce uniforms and war goods for their men were brought together and of course the men on the battlefields fighting together managed to build a strong relationship among themselves. As a direct result everyone learnt to look after one another and to care for each other, reflecting the fact that; “We are all members of one body.” as the Inspector would say. The audience now more aware could look at certain characters i.e. Birling and see how wrong he actually is.

How does the Inspector represent and present Priestley’s central themes or ideas could one say? First I shall establish what Priestley’s central themes actually are. His central ideas are the aspects of: responsibilities - the responsibilities people can and cannot accept, personally and socially; community - the environment people are living in and how it affects them; lies and truth - can certain people tell lies and get away with them easily and how some people can tell constant lies whilst some cannot even tell one; honesty and self-deception - can people be honest or indeed cannot, if so how can they without being affected in any way, how can they deceive themselves; equality and social snobbery - why do some people believe they are superior to others and party; double standards - how and why do the men act differently and have different rights than the women and why are they considered less affected by bad news.

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Mr. Birling believes that a man should make his own way in life, stands on his own two feet and should only look after himself and his family. He says; “…a man has to make his own way – has to look after himself and his family too, of course… community and all that nonsense…a man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own-”. This quotation clearly expresses Birling’s feelings about community, he believes it’s nonsense, and he doesn’t seem to care for others, only blood relatives and his wife. The audience now looking back ...

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