An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley
'A man is a member of a community and the fact that he is a member of
a community enlarges his stature and increases his opportunities'
In J.B. Priestley's 'An Inspector Calls' the themes of community are
deep running and are a reflection of his socialist morals and ideals.
Priestley uses the word community as a representation of society as a
whole. In the Inspector's final speech, he says, "We are members of
one body. We are responsible for each other." Through the inspector,
Priestley is exploring the point that everyone should be a member of a
universal community. One that is devoid of social classes and the
prejudices and injustices that a class dominated society brings. These
feelings about the ideals of community were dominated by Priestley
political beliefs and his contempt for the self centred and blinkered
upper classes. Priestley explores the theme of community in the
Edwardian society of 1912, so he can use dramatic irony to highlight
the point that, "if men will not learn that lesson, they will be
taught it in fire and blood and anguish." The lesson he refers to is
that 'we don't live alone' and he uses the image of fire, blood, and
anguish as a biblical reference to the apocalypse or perhaps an image
of hell. It can also be viewed as a reference the battlefields of the
First and Second World Wars, where the self-centredness of society,
particularly in the upper classes, led to huge conflict.
Priestley explores the various failings of class dominated society
through the personification of it's certain aspects through his
characters. He uses the characters of the Birling family ...
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...per classes of Edwardian society and their
self-centred approach to life. Priestley uses a variety of techniques
to display aspects of this society in his play. His mockery of Birling
and the society he stands for incited anger in this audience. Anger at
how their approach to community and their self-interest led to two
wars. The message Priestley conveys in 'An Inspector Calls' is that it
is the upper classes of society, those who think themselves above
others and too important for such things as community, are stopping
the moral betterment of society. He is saying that if we do not force
change upon them, change will never come, we must show them their own
self-centredness and keep showing them until they realise the error of
their ways and change. The way forward for community must be led by
the masses, not the few.
In the book Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman there are many different characters, and even some of them cross paths. A community garden was started just by one person therefore everyone follows. They all learn how to get along with other people, how to not stereotype so much, and how to depend on each other in their community. All of them struggle with something, whether it's with family, friends, or feeling stereotyped. They learn the importance of a community, and realize how much they really depend on each other. Having a community is important for all people to incorporate diversity, culture,and unique stories into their lives. You don't realize how much people depend on their community until its gone. The importance
and say and do. We don't live alone. We are members of a body. We are
talks with. He is a man who has come to the Birling's house to do his
the end of the Second World War. The play is set in 1912, just before
especially for a woman. Even if a woman did get a job they would get
they have done even know they do not lead her to her suicide. But a
An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley "An Inspector calls," by J. B. Priestley was written in 1946 and set in 1912. Priestley was a politician and a socialist who believed in equality and equilibrium for all, sex, race and class. Priestley had a long but arduous life, 1894-1984. He lived through both world wars, the unsinkable Titanic sank in 1912, the general strike in 1926, labour government resigning in 1931, and the two destructive atom bombs dropped on Japan in 1945. Priestley deliberately set the play in 1912 because the audience watching the play had to have lived through all of this and would have empathised with him.
into a little house just big enough to stand in. It gives you a great
in jeopardy than how he may have driven a young girl down a spiral to
upon so many levels. On the surface it is a simple tale of how one man
play is set in 1912, only 2 years before the outbreak of WW1, and in
J.B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls John Boynton Priestley was one of the most popular, versatile and greatest authors of his day. His works of popular history and literary criticism are numerous, ending with the story of Literature and the western woman. However it was as a playwright and as a social thinker that he was especially important. Politically, J.B. Priestley was a patriotic socialist who did not believe in the case of social class or rich dominancy, he believed that people should help each other and not be so competitive towards others. He hated social class because of the way upper class people took advantage of the working classes.
Birlings, as they find out that they have all played a part in a young
the suicide of Eva Smiths death. The aim of the story is to, try to
The story of Eva Smith is a dramatic one. JB Priestley is full of good