Analyse the character of the Inspector in An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley. Discuss his: * Role in the play * Effect on the other characters * Stage presence When the Inspector first knocks on the front door, it is dramatic irony because Arthur just said a matter of seconds before of how he ‘might get a knighthood if we don’t get into any sort of trouble’. This is a very significant time of entering, similar to knocking over a tower of Jenga – everything one has hoped for has just evaporated into thin air. As an audience we expect something very important, an altered atmosphere in the play from this moment forward. The Birling’s smug satisfaction is put on hold. It abruptly comes to a halt. Edna comes into the Dining room and says to Mr. Birling, “Please, Sir, an Inspector’s called”. The Inspector, at first appears to the audience to be a police officer. He said he had recently moved to Brumley; the family find out he is a fake when Arthur rings the police station at the end of the play. This news is even more disturbing than the questioning that takes place throughout the play, because they realised that the Inpsector had deceived them all. They had been had! But on the other hand, was the purpose of the visit fulfilled? I think the purpose of his visit was to show the family that their lives and what they do during their life is far more influential than they realise, either positively or negatively. Had they helped Eva Smith, her life may not have been lost, but in fact, the Inspector’s intention was to help them see where they went wrong and secure them on the right pathif they were willing to respond. He wanted to aid them in their understanding that in life there are huge decisions and choices to make which, if are chosen wrongly, can have devastating effects, not only for them but for other people . The reason the Police Inspector arrived here at the Birling household was to investigate a suicide. He seemed to already know everything that the family told him of the questions he was asking. It was as though he had been watching them for the past 10 or so years and knew everything that had gone on. It appears innocent, just routine innocuous questioning. On one level, J.B. Priestley is using the Inspector’s character to solve what seems to be a police inquiry, investigating a suicide. On a deeper level, Priestley is using the Inspector to help the family see where they can take greater responsibility in society; he is helping
There would be more of an effect on the audience at the time, as it
In the act the actress who plays Sheila is told to act as though the
she needed more money. So she said to him give me 25/6 because of that
A Comparison of Characters of Mr. Birling and Inspector Goole in J.B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls
• There were also scenes ever so often a historian would pop up and give you a brief narrative about what was going on in the movie. This was a parody of all the historians that covered the story of Arthur. The comedic affect was delivered when Arthur killed the historian at the end of the movie.
"And be quiet for a moment and listen to me. I don't need to know any
technology and how a man should live. He says 'A man has to make his
talks with. He is a man who has come to the Birling's house to do his
Another form of deception in the plot is Roy’s behavior at the final of the movie. Roy who killed Tyrell, Sebastian, and the man in the eye laboratory with unusual enjoyment, shows weakness and helps Deckard to survive.
An Inspector Calls is a play with lots of political messages as well as social messages. J. B. Priestley believed in socialism and he used large amounts of his plays to try and convince people to his way of thinking. It was written in a time when Britain was ruled by a Labour government and socialist policies were seen to be a good way to go. It was a common way of thinking at that time so Priestley's aim for the play was to influence the unconvinced in society.
wasn’t real, because he doesn’t/ didn’t exist. Since Mr. Mann was fictional, when the attacks on
Writing a story is pretty difficult. Writing a short story is even harder, there is so much that has to be accomplished; in both commercial and literary fiction! The plot, the structure, whether it has a happy, unhappy, or indeterminate ending. There must be artistic unity, chance, coincidence, rising action, climax, falling action. Most importantly there must be characterization. Characters make the story! “anyone can summarize what a person in a story has done, but a writer needs considerable skill and insight into human beings to describe convincingly who a person is” [page 168]
Neither Hester or Arthur could live their lives concealing their true emotions. Arthur literally could not live with it, while Hester changed the way she felt on the inside to correspond to her guilty external image. At the court house, when Arthur Dimmesdale was pleading for Hester to reveal the name of the man with whom she had an affair, it was clear that a part of him actually wanted everyone to know that it was he who was the guilty one.
hand Mr and Mrs Birling are not able to do that as they think of no
At this point in the book, Arthur is deciding whether or not he wants to run away with Hester. It’s a close call, but he decides to remain in the community, living with his guilt.