Ideas of Community in An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley

Ideas of Community in An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley

"We don't live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible

for each other. And I tell you that a time will soon come when if men

will not learn that lesson then they will be taught it in fire and

blood and anguish"

Inspector's Final speech.

An Inspector Calls is as its name implies- a detective play with a

twist. Written by John Boynton Priestely in 1945 after WW2, it is

based in 1912 in the industrial city of Bromley in the North Midlands

and is centred around the Birling's- a respectable upper middle class

family who all in some way contributed to why Eva Smith- lower class

girl, committed suicide- yet who shun their responsibility and then

reap the consequences.

In the years between 1912 and 1945, there were two huge world wars

that had affected millions of lives. The casualties had been

staggering and the destruction overwhelming and people were now

beginning to ask why- why had all this happened- why had so much

misery come about- who was responsible for it all?

Before the 1939, theatres had been extremely versatile in its styles

and it had been a popular form of entertainment with the people to

whom the theatre was a means to get away from the horrors of the war.

Theatre was also greatly influenced by playwrights and authors.

Brecht- a German director, poet and playwright of late 19th and early

20th century was incredibly famous for his plays in which he

introduced moral/ social and political issues (social division, racial

prejudices etc) and encouraged the audience to think about what the

moral and situations of the story were so that they...

... middle of paper ...

...and deaths today are all caused because of people's

greed or lusting for power, or simply because they do not understand

each other and do not try to. If we do not learn this lesson now and

try to right the wrong, we will be punished again and again- Titanic

the greatest ship of her time was lost through our arrogance that we

were the best and undefeatable- her loss, WW1 and WW2 were our

punishments. Millions died and it was no ones fault but our own. The

National Theatre production simply reminds us of this, which is a

valuable reminder what with the war in Iraq and the tensions rising

due to fighting and terrorism. Priestley shows us that however

foolishly we act, however terribly, we will always get a second or

even third chance but it is up to us whether we take them and learn-

or don't and suffer the consequences.