inspector calls essay responsibility

An Inspector Calls – Full Mark Essay L9 / A* grade

This is an example of a high grade A* / L9 essay for ‘An Inspector Calls’.

It was completed by myself, not in timed conditions, to set an example for high achieving students, so it is beyond the requirement of a high grade for GCSE. However, students are encouraged to read it and deconstruct it to get ideas for their own essays and structuring – it is also useful in terms of learning how to develop a sophisticated approach to essay phrasing, techniques, and vocabulary. I hope you enjoy reading it and find it helpful!

If you find this page useful you can take a look at our full ‘An Inspector Calls’ course here .

How does Priestley explore the issue of class in An Inspector Calls? 

Class is arguably one of the central issues presented in the play, as it is because of her lower-class that Eva Smith is able to be so badly exploited, which leads to her tragic suffering and eventual suicide despite her intelligence, beauty, and kindness. We are exposed to the privileges that upper and middle-class men and women have, as well as the fact that they don’t always realise that they have greater opportunities and stability. As a socialist, Priestley certainly viewed the division between classes as a serious issue in his postwar society; the play ultimately tries to convey his message of social responsibility in order to minimise these rifts between the different classes.

According to Priestley, the upper classes cause issues in society due to their blind privilege. Gerald Croft, for instance, is an aristocrat whom Priestley describes as an ‘easy well-bred young man-about-town’. Priestley depicts Gerald as having an ‘easy’ lifestyle and demeanor due to his privileged social position; as a prominent up and coming businessman whose family are successful business owners, it could be argued that he has been handed his freedom and success without much effort or difficulty. The compound adjective ‘well-bred’ in particular displays Priestley’s socialist beliefs, as it implies that he is aware of yet disagrees with the fact that breeding is highly valued by the postwar British society and perhaps that family connections are more important than a person’s own character or intelligence; Sheila is only engaged to Gerald, after all, because Mr. Birling wants to secure business connections. Gerald’s flagrant exploitation of Eva’s kindness and beauty whilst being engaged to Sheila creates a layer of dramatic irony which criticises the idea that marriage for business purposes or family reasons is ever a positive or viable option. Though it could be argued that Gerald is a more sympathetic character than Sybil, he still demonstrates how the upper classes are so privileged and used to manipulate those around them that they are not even fully conscious of their behaviour. His excuse of continuing the affair with Eva because he felt ‘sorry for her’ could be interpreted as sensitivity, but it is likely that Priestley wanted to show instead how it demonstrates false sympathy, as he was only prepared to help Eva so long as she provided him with the affection that he craved. Additionally, Sybil as another upper-class figure demonstrates a different kind of high-class privilege: under the pretense of being charitable as she works for the ‘Brumley Women’s Charity’, using her prominent position in society to help only those she feels are deserving because they align with her own beliefs and values. She refuses to help Eva because she did not agree with Eva’s ‘elaborate fine feelings … that were simply absurd for a girl in her position’. The alliteration of ‘fine feelings’ emphasises Sybil’s snide superiority in that she is prejudiced towards Eva’s sensitivity and considers herself able to feel and experience more complex emotions than a lower class ‘girl’, a further diminutive term that underscores Sybil’s authoritative position and Eva’s own powerlessness in the situation where she is forced to finally seek charitable help after being thrown into a series of increasingly unfortunate positions. Therefore, whether they are consciously or unconsciously aware of their actions, the upper-class characters in the play are shown to manipulate the lower classes by abusing their privileged position; this demonstrates an inherent hierarchical structure in mid 20th-century British society which Priestley challenges and rejects. As a social realist play, the narrative represents a real-life situation that is familiar and known to the audience, so Priestley’s audience would have been aware of people holding the same values as Sybil and Gerald, looking down on lower classes or feeling like they could just exploit them as they pleased. In this way, Priestley asks his audience to question the fundamental beliefs of his society, by showing that they are not based on kindness and empathy, but instead superiority and oppression. 

An Inspector Calls: Character Revision

Although Priestley exposes the problems with the upper classes in the play, he also draws equal attention to the plight of the lower classes. This is primarily shown through the character of Eva Smith, who is arguably less of an individual person and more of an everywoman or symbol for the exploited lower class workers: her name ‘Eva’ is a Biblical allusion to Eve, the first woman created by God in the book of Genesis, and her surname ‘Smith’ is the most common surname in Britain. The symbolism of Eva’s name also shifts as her situation deteriorates; being forced out of work several times, she changes her name to ‘Daisy Renton’, the surname perhaps suggesting the idea of a ‘rent girl’ or prostitute. Interestingly, the Inspector describes Eva as a ‘young woman’; the concrete noun ‘woman’ implies his respect for her regardless of her lower-class position. In contrast, the other characters refer to her using belittling or derogatory language, Sybil calls her a ‘wretched girl’, the adjective ‘wretched’ perhaps implying a double meaning of ‘doomed’ but also ‘repulsive’, once again highlighting Sybil’s upper-class snobbery. Arthur Birling also refers to her patronisingly as a ‘lively good-looking girl’ who ultimately ‘only had herself to blame’. Though the compound adjective ‘good-looking’ could be interpreted as a compliment, the audience feels that it is somewhat off-putting and patronising coming from a character such as Mr. Birling, who is in such a position of authority and privilege as a business owner relative to Eva being a mere worker who is replaceable and expendable in his eyes. The concept of ‘blame’ is pushed increasingly away from the lower classes as the play progresses when the Inspector, acting as a mouthpiece for Priestley’s own socialist views, exposes all of the Birling family and Gerald too to be partially culpable, doing so through the prop of the ‘photograph’ which he shows, in turn, to each family member before exposing their encounters with Eva. The fact that nobody sees the photograph at the same time heightens the dramatic tension of the play, and its importance as a plot device is underscored at the end when Gerald points out that ‘There were probably four or five different girls’, ironically failing to recognise that the statement is irrelevant because it still demonstrates that each family member acted exploitatively towards a lower-class person, even if they were different people in the end. Ultimately the Inspector’s fire-and-brimstone speech where he declares that there are ‘millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths’ reinforces to Priestley’s audience the irrelevance of whether Eva is an individual or a symbol, as the point remains that the continual exploitation of lower-class workers by upper and middle classes results in mass suffering and oppression. 

However, Priestley does not only criticise the upper and middle classes, as his audience is educated and themselves part of those upper levels in society, he instead demonstrates their potential for change. Both Sheila and Eric certainly affect Eva’s life negatively, but crucially they demonstrate an acceptance of those and show remorse as well as a willingness to be more socially conscious in the future. Sheila outwardly admits her faults to the Inspector: ‘I know I’m to blame – and I’m desperately sorry’, causing the audience to sympathise with her and realise that as she was young, she was perhaps merely copying the behaviour of her mother when showing jealousy and cruelty towards Eva in the department store. Eric arguably is one of the worst characters in terms of his effect on Eva’s life; as an alcoholic who likes to get ‘squiffy’, he is shown to be irresponsible and selfish, to the point where he impregnates Eva and then abandons her. Yet he also shows maturity at the end, stating ‘The fact remains, I did what I did’ – the repetition of ‘did’ in the past tense perhaps emphasises that he is now going to change for the better and become a more considerate man rather than a selfish boy. Overall, the younger generation’s willingness to engage with the Inspector’s message is presented as positive, and they symbolically represent Priestley’s hope that future generations will be more kind and considerate towards one another. 

Finally, Priestley uses the tensions between classes as a way of promoting his wider anti-capitalist and pro-socialist political stance. As a socialist, he believes that the typical views of a capitalist society where, as Arthur puts it, ‘a man must look after himself and his own’ are outdated and damaging to the population as a whole, because individuals feel no greater sense of responsibility to the wider community. The reflexive pronoun ‘himself’ and the possessive pronoun ‘his’ also underscore the selfishness that Priestley feels is inherent within capitalism, as in his view it encourages an individualist and anti-collectivist mentality that rewards people for selfish behaviour and discourages them from altruistic or compassionate behaviour. Arthur’s views are directly juxtaposed with the Inspector’s own, particularly towards the end of the play when he becomes more forceful with his opinions. He concludes that ‘we are all members of one body’, using the collective pronoun ‘we’ to reflect his universal perspective of being interconnected with all other individuals in society. The metaphor ‘members of one body’ further reinforces his socialist perspective, as it suggests that each individual is connected to a greater whole – perhaps also referencing Priestley’s own Christian beliefs about harmony within communities and taking care of others, particularly those less fortunate than ourselves. Though in modern British society it is common to be equally exposed to both capitalist and socialist perspectives, when the play was written in 1945 the Labour Party – of whom Priestley himself was a prominent member – had just won over the Conservative Party for the first time in history. Therefore, Priestley’s audience themselves were less accustomed to socialist opinions, and many of them continued to uphold the prewar Edwardian and even Victorian attitudes of class separation, rather than wanting to create a progressive society that encouraged equality between classes. By setting the play in 1912 but writing and performing it in 1945, Priestley also uses this time difference to demonstrate that views such as Mr and Mrs Birling’s are outdated in the modern world, encouraging his audience to distance themselves from a capitalistic mentality and instead embrace a more socialist and equalist approach to life. This double setting also allows Priestley to reinforce the absurdness of some of Arthur’s views – for instance, he declares that the Titanic is ‘absolutely unsinkable’; his assertive and confident tone is entirely undermined for Priestley’s audience by the situational irony that the Titanic sank soon after Mr. Birling made that statement. The effect is to demonstrate Mr. Birling’s idiocy as a whole and to deter the audience from believing his capitalist attitudes, as he is clearly so wrong about his other beliefs.

In summary, Priestley treats the issue of class as integral to the plot of ‘An Inspector Calls’. He criticises the upper and middle classes for their lack of awareness of their privileges and their misinformed judgment of the lower classes in an effort to create a harmonious future society where the problems of class difference and class oppression are greatly minimised, or ideally no longer exist. This is demonstrated within a political framework, in which the Inspector’s socialist views are encouraged in the audience, whereas Mr. Birling’s capitalist views are discouraged. Finally, Sheila and Eric, as younger generation characters, exemplify Priestley’s hope for the future as they show the potential to think for themselves and no longer just copy the entrenched values of their parents. 

Thanks for reading! If you found this page useful you can take a look at our full ‘An Inspector Calls’ course , as well as ‘ An Inspector Calls: Story Summary ‘, where we break down Act by Act for easier understanding!

Related Posts

The Theme of Morality in To Kill A Mockingbird

Unseen Poetry Exam Practice – Spring

To Kill A Mockingbird Essay Writing – PEE Breakdown

Emily Dickinson A Level Exam Questions

Poem Analysis: Sonnet 116 by William Shakespeare

An Inspector Calls – Official AQA Exam Questions

The Dolls House by Katherine Mansfield: Summary + Analysis

An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge: Stories of Ourselves:

How to Get Started with Narrative Writing

Robert Frost’s Life and Poetic Career

© Copyright Scrbbly 2022

“An Inspector Calls”: Theme of Social Responsibility Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

Introduction

“An inspector calls” is one of the plays produced immediately after the end of the Second World War in 1946. During this period, most scholars and human activists were majorly concerned with the welfare of the less privileged individuals within society (Priestly et al., 1992). The poor individuals in the United Kingdom did not have people who could fight and address their grievances, leading to most leaving a low-quality life. Priestly wanted to address the issue of classism and how poor individuals can be empowered to climb up the social ladder. He advocates for successful individuals to help poor individuals to live a quality life in the community (Priestly et al., 1992). Priestly also encourages that it is an individual’s responsibility to ensure that those close to them are safe and always available for each other when need be. This paper strives to highlight how Priestly has portrayed the theme of responsibility in different scenarios within the play.

Good neighborliness is when one cares about the well-being of those who are around them when things seem not to be okay on their side. One of the major points where Priestly portrays the theme of social responsibility is whereby Sheila feels a sense of duty when she realizes that she has a role to play in the death of Eva Smith. She tells Gerald to stop looking at her angrily since he also has once been involved in circumstances that are shameful (Priestly et al., 1992). Sheila finally admits and agrees to be held culpable for her actions and talks out the truth. However, Gerald is also blaming her for various faults while he has declined to take responsibility for his actions that also contributed to the demise of Eva Smith (Priestly et al., 1992) . The target audience can learn the importance of taking responsibility for various aspects and how their actions may impact the well-being of other individuals.

When one lives a responsible lifestyle, members of the community will not be worried much about them compared to those who are careless with their lives. Priestley also explores the theme of social duty when Mr. Birling fails to take responsibility for various actions that led to Eva Smith’s death. His sentiments suggest that everyone should be held responsible for their own life and well-being (Priestly et al., 1992). Individuals who take the responsibility of taking care of others mostly land into awkward situations in case an unlikely event with a devastating effect occurs to the individuals. Dr. Priestley strives to encourage the target audience to ensure utmost self-care and responsibility to maintain a good relationship with others within the community since there will be no unnecessary blames.

Putting one in an individual’s shoes is one of the major ways of understanding other people’s struggles. In the play, some of the characters also display social responsibility in some instances. For example, Erick feels socially responsible for some of his actions in the final parts of the play (Priestly et al., 1992). This indicates that Erick possesses some sense of social responsibility to ensure that other individuals within the society are always safe. Erick’s mother and Gerald have withdrawn from being involved in Eva Smith’s incident, but he still insists that something could have been done to salvage Eva Smith’s actions that cost her life (Priestly et al., 1992). He takes Eva Smith’s Matter very seriously and even urges her mother to be responsible for the unfortunate occurrence too. The reader can learn that nobody can understand other people’s struggles unless they go through the same experience.

Responding quickly to other individuals’ struggles is also a major aspect of ensuring effective social responsibility and good neighborliness. Mrs. Birling, who is a close individual to Eva Smith as well, also elaborates on the theme of social responsibility when she fails to take control over the events that contributed to the death of Eva Smith. Even after being questioned by the inspector and the inspector elaborating that she had a responsibility to undertake during the process, Sybil Birling still does not want to take the responsibility. This can be seen when he negatively remarks on Erick’s sentiments by saying that he is ashamed of him (Priestly et al., 1992). Telling Erick that she is ashamed of him indicates that she does not care about the inspector’s investigation and the impact the investigations have on other members close to Eva Smith (Priestly et al., 1992). This context enables the reader to stop being greedy and self-centered individuals and instead act responsibly when dealing with other individuals in the community.

In conclusion, responsibility is considered one of the most significant social characteristics since it enables individuals to care for other people. Human beings have universal rights, ensuring that no individual is subjected to circumstances against human rights. Priestly also highlights how individuals in higher positions and social class should effectively use their influence by positively impacting community members. One should always adhere to the principle of supreme morality when dealing with fellow human beings. The target audience can understand that social responsibility begins with good and productive neighborliness.

Priestly, J. B., John Braine Priestly, & Bezant, T. (1992). An inspector calls . Heinemann.

• Economic Value Added (EVA)
• The Meaning of Cultural Consumption and Influence of Cultural Backgrounds
• Social Issues: Hollywood Effects on Suburban Families
• Regan and Goneril in "King Lear" by Shakespeare
• Positive Role Model in "A Doll's House" by Henrik Ibsen
• “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark” and “A Raisin in the Sun”
• The Play "The Taming of the Shrew" by William Shakespeare
• Paternal Love in "Oedipus Rex" by Sophocles
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2022, December 16). “An Inspector Calls”: Theme of Social Responsibility. https://ivypanda.com/essays/an-inspector-calls-theme-of-social-responsibility/

"“An Inspector Calls”: Theme of Social Responsibility." IvyPanda , 16 Dec. 2022, ivypanda.com/essays/an-inspector-calls-theme-of-social-responsibility/.

IvyPanda . (2022) '“An Inspector Calls”: Theme of Social Responsibility'. 16 December.

IvyPanda . 2022. "“An Inspector Calls”: Theme of Social Responsibility." December 16, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/an-inspector-calls-theme-of-social-responsibility/.

1. IvyPanda . "“An Inspector Calls”: Theme of Social Responsibility." December 16, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/an-inspector-calls-theme-of-social-responsibility/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "“An Inspector Calls”: Theme of Social Responsibility." December 16, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/an-inspector-calls-theme-of-social-responsibility/.

Responsibility

Use this player and a teacher will talk you through this page....

Priestley's message is never better summed up than in the inspector's closing speech where the characters (and the audience) are repeatedly reminded that we are responsible for each other .

Priestley believed that it was imperative that those fortunate enough to have money and time to spare should use it to look after those less fortunate. he believed that it was the morally right thing to do., interestingly, human history supports this idea: human evolution and the civil treatment of other living creatures have always gone hand in hand. though the world today is still very unfair, we're not a medieval society who starved peasants, or a roman society who threw slaves to the lions for fun. it would seem clear that evolution and civility go hand in hand., in this play, priestley uses the inspector to expose the irresponsible, uncaring heart of those with privilege and, in doing so, he hopes to shame them into changing., in simple terms, the message of the play is this:, as rich people, the birlings had a lot of power and privilege. however, they did not use it responsibly. the inspector arrives and shows them the error of their ways. mr and mrs birling do not change, sheila and eric do., in this respect, the inspector speaks with the voice of the play's author, j.b. priestley; while the other characters on stage represent the various different members of society that priestley wanted to address. bearing this in mind, the play looks like this:, the inspector challenges each of the characters in order to force them to take more responsibility for other members of society., mr birling refused to take responsibility for eva smith, even though she worked for him. he thought it was his "duty" to lower prices, and didn't see eva - his employee - as being his responsibility..

Sheila took out her jealous anger on Eva with no idea that her behaviour would have repercussions - Sheila didn't take responsibility for the outcome of her actions. Once she understands what she did, however, she takes accepts that "I am to blame."

Gerald took responsibility for eva when it suited him - housing her and feeding her - but then refused to take responsibility once he'd taken what he'd wanted. in the same way, he takes responsibilty when the inspector initially confronts him, but then tries to avoid it as soon as the inspector has gone., it was mrs birling's responsibility to make a judgement over who should or shouldn't receive help from her charity, but she felt that eva was irresponsible for having become pregnant. mrs bilring claims that the father of the child should be held responsible, without ever realising that she is condemning eric., in certain respects eric tries to take responsibility for what he did - he steals from the works to pay eva, and even offers to marry her (which was a big deal back then as marriage was for life and she was of a significantly lower class.), the inspector challenges each of them in turn and makes them take responsibility. in this way he makes them responsible for what they have done. he does this by exposing their own little secrets, and he does by doing his duty which is to "ask questions." he is an inspector after-all..., should eva smith be held responsible for herself, remember that responsibility also means blame and throughout the play there is a returning question of who is most to blame for eva's death. each of the characters contributed, but who drove her furthest, some people might argue that eva herself was most to blame - she must be held responsible for her own actions, after all:, should she have taken the payrise mr birling offered her, and then worked hard to become a senior supervisor once birling and croft's merged, should she have played her cards differently with gerald and then maybe he would have stayed with her, should she have pressured eric into marriage it would have been a scandal, but she could have joined the family, with a child to secure her place at the table., be careful arguing this as it is clearly so far from what priestley wanted you to think. however, it is a thought that could be applied to the text so you could raise it if you think it's valid., should we be socially responsible or must we be, however, alongside the moral reasons for being responsible, the inspector's closing speech suggests something else:, at one point the inspector says: " i tell you that the time will soon come when, if men will not learn that lesson, then they w i ll be taught it in fire and blood and anguish.", the key phrase here is "then they will be taught it" - and the key word is the modal verb " will ." the inspector isn't saying that if we don't learn to be nice then we should suffer, or that we might suffer, he's saying that if we do not learn to live together then we will be taught the lesson. essentially he - and priestley - are saying that if we don't learn to work together then society will inevitably fall apart., again, there are interesting historical reasons for believing he might be right: the french revolution (1789) and the russian revolution (1917) both came about when the inequality that the poor were suffering under became too much to bear; the rise of fascism in germany was also the result of the german economy crashing; while the current struggles in the us and the uk both came about when poor "forgotten communities" rose up and seized their chance at change while voting., priestley argues that unless we help support those in need, those in need will come back to haunt us later. if we argue that people should be allowed to keep all their earnings, without thought for other people's suffering, then the design of capitalism will mean that the rich get richer while the poor get poorer and this will inevitably lead so societal collapse. and, again, this is supported in evidence from around the world: countries where the gap between the richest and the poorest is smaller are less likely to fall to extremism, and enjoy more stability over the longer term., in short: the inspector argues - and there is some historical evidence to support the idea - that being responsible for each other isn't just a nice thing to do, but that it is something we must to do in order to avoid societal collapse, either through war or revolution., textual references, i can't accept any responsibility for everything that happens to everyone at one point, mr birling claims that he “ can't ” accept any responsibility for what happens to other people. here the modal verb “can’t” suggests that doesn’t feel that he doesn’t want to do this, but that he simply isn’t capable of doing it. the use of the adjective “any” reinforces this, as it isn’t just this particular responsibility it is any responsibility at all. it’s interesting to propose that this is as a result of mr birling’s provincial roots – he worked his way out of possible poverty and has earned what he now has. it is understandable that many people who have worked hard from lowly beginnings end up with a more selfish and unsympathetic approach to life later on., mr birling: “well, it’s my duty to keep labour costs down” – mr birling (act 1) he makes it seem as if he has a moral obligation to be rich, and stay upper class, as if capitalism, or his purist view on it, is what keeps society together. this is a common view of capitalists, and right wing people in general: that they have a responsibility to work for their own ends; that it is their duty to compete for the best, as it is through competition that society advances. socialists think progress is achieved through cooperation, capitalists believe that progress is achieved through competition., the inspector: "it's my duty to ask questions." as a professional policeman, it is the inspector's duty to hold everyone in society to account. mr birling may like to think that he's allowed to duck out of trouble because he knows people in high places, but the inspector isn't going to let him get away with it. birling thinks it's his duty to keep labour costs down; mrs birling thinks she did her duty when turning eva away; and the inspector is doing his duty asking questions - even of the rich and powerful., mrs birling: "i consider i did my duty." mrs birling thinks that it is her duty - her responsibility - to interrogate the people who came to her looking for help. she clearly didn't look at eva's case closely enough though as she missed the truth of what the poor girl was saying., mr birling: “ but the way some of these 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 .” – mr birling (act 1) he’s calling socialists cranks - a kind of patronising term for mad people - and denounces the very ideas of socialism, by saying that the entire system is weak, annoying and subhuman (insect like, like bees.) capitalists also attack socialism as they say it degrades human individuality, suggesting that socialists require us all to live like one enormous machine with no individual rights. mr birling’s comparison to bees supports this - he’s saying that if we were to live collectively, as the inspector wants, we’d be no better than a hive of insects., with no welfare state, p oor people often depended on charity. but wealthy people controlled the charity and used it to reward only those they thought " deserving ." here, priestley shows that , again, the poor were at the mercy of the rich. the welfare state, which argues that you should be supported regardless of your circumstance reduces the power of judgement over people who are struggling ., mrs birling doesn’t take any responsibility and states “ i blame the young man who was the father of the child she was going to have ”, not knowing that her son eric is the father. she even said the man responsible should turn himself in and take full responsibility. when she finds out her son is responsible she hypocritically attempts to cover the issue up., mrs birling: i accept no blame for it at all a refusal to accept any responsibility for what happened, sheila is one of the only people in the play to really accept responsibility for the death of eva smith. at one point, she observes that “between us we drove that girl to commit suicide.” here, she acknowledges the collective responsibility of the group; she’s not feeling sorry for herself or blaming herself, and nor is she refusing blame – like her parents – but she is recognising what the inspector claims: “that we are responsible for each other.” in this quote, she is not just taking responsibility for eva, but for the rest of her family. also, the use of the verb “drove” makes it clear that they were actively involved in killing eva and not just passive observers., eric: the girl’s dead and we all killed her he accepts responsibility, the inspector: (massively) “public men, mr birling, have responsibilities as well as privileges.” (act 2) inspector goole is saying that ‘public men’, such as mr birling, who has societal responsibilities, have great responsibilities, due to their great power. this attitude could also be applied to celebrities today – they earn a lot of money and have a place in the public eye, but doesn’t that mean they also have a responsibility to behave in a socially responsible way, the inspector: “you see, we have to share something. if there’s nothing else, we’ll have to share our guilt” – inspector goole (act 2) the inspector is highlighting how the birlings share nothing, but if they should share something, it should be their guilt over their actions, otherwise they wouldn’t be able to cope with it. he’s saying that the responsibility is not hers alone., the inspector tells the characters, " each of you helped to kill her ", showing that he wanted them all to accept and share responsibility for their actions. it suggests the idea that we are all bees in a hive and need to take care of one another, that the past generation has made mistakes and we cannot turn away from the suffering lower class., the whole of the inspector's closing speech, which is aimed at the audience as well as the characters:, “but just remember this. one eva smith has gone – but there are millions and millions and millions of eva smiths and john smiths still left with us, with their lives, their hopes and fears, their suffering and chance of happiness, all intertwined with our lives, and what we think and say and do. we don't live alone. we are members of one body. we are responsible for each other. and i tell you that the time will soon come when, if men will not learn that lesson, then they well be taught it in fire and blood and anguish. good night.”, the inspector’s final speech opens with a long, complex sentence that reminds us of all the “eva smiths and john smiths” there are in the world, and which emphasises the extent to which the themes of the play are not specifically about this situation. also, the warning travels across time – from 1912 to 1945 – and it is increasingly true again today after a decade of austerity has left the use of food banks and zero-hours-contracts rising. the use of emotive language “hopes and fears … suffering … chance of happiness” all twig at the audience’s heart strings while the use of polysyndeton – the repetition of “and” in the phrase “think and say and do” – allows the actor to emphasise the key point: that our thoughts and actions and words all help to create the world we share., priestley follows this with three simple sentences, which summarise his lesson. the use of the simple imperatives breaks up his main point and makes his lesson clear and concise – “we do not live alone… we are members of one body” – so that with the right delivery it seems too obvious to argue with. it also allows an actor to break between each point which would allow them to add gravitas to the performance – perhaps even looking out across the auditorium to remind the audience of their involvement in this sham., the inspector goes on to make a prediction about what will happen if “men will not learn that lesson.” (here, we have to assume that he is referring to “mankind” and not just “men,” though it’s worth noting the irony of the fact that the character in the play who learns the lesson most successfully is actually a woman.) but, he claims that if the lesson is not learnt then we will learn it in “fire and blood and anguish.” this is a reference to the decades of war that would be fought in the years between when the play was set and when the first performance occurred. in this respect, priestley is using quite a cheeky strategy: he’s making the inspector prophetic – almost divine – in 1912, but only because priestley knew what went on to happen. it’s also interesting, however, that priestley is suggesting that disaster is inevitable if humans don’t change the way we behave - the use of the mod al verb "will" be taught it, suggests that the lesson is inevitable . in this respect he is similar to karl marx, the founder of communism and a key socialist thinker, who argued that it the poor would inevitably rise up against the rich if equality wasn’t pursued. both thinkers, marx and priestley, claim that change must happen or disaster will inevitably strike. for the audience the dramatic irony of the inspector’s prophecy would have been very powerful, while his use second use of polysyndeton makes the list seem longer and emphasises the extra item: “anguish.”, after this, almost as a joke, the inspector leaves with a courteous “good night,” which could be seen as the edwardian equivalent of a mic drop..

Mr Salles Teaches English

An Inspector Calls 100% Essay

I received 40/40 on my inspector calls gcse question thanks to you- securing myself 9, 9 in english lit and language. Would you like my script to use?

But honestly I can’t thank you enough. I’ve encouraged friends in year 11 to watch your videos so they can improve too🙏🙏

Thanks Noah - here is the essay!

Let’s call this an average of 7 words per line. Noah writes about 27 lines per page for the last 5 pages, and 13 lines on page 1.

That gives a total of (7x27x5) + (7x13) = 1036 words.

This is typical of full mark essays, and grade 9 essays. Points make prizes, simple as that.

If you aren’t practising writing fast, you aren’t practising getting grade 9.

Thank you for reading Mr Salles Teaches English. This post is public so feel free to share it. You probably know someone else who wants top grades.

This was written for the Edexcel paper.

Mark scheme:.

There is an assured personal response,

showing a high level of engagement with the text and

discerning choice of references to the text.

A critical style is developed with maturity,

perceptive understanding and interpretation with

The understanding of relevant contexts is excellent.

Understanding of the relationship between text and context is integrated convincingly into the response.

High performance-in the context of the Level of Demand of the question,

Learners spell and punctuate with consistent accuracy, and

consistently use vocabulary and sentence structures to achieve effective control of meaning.

The items in bold italic are different to AQA - but overall, both exam boards want the same thing from a grade 9 essay: it needs to be well argued and perceptive.

Mr Salles Teaches English is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts which help you get top grades, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

What Scores the Marks?

Your Thesis Statement should make it easy to work out what the topic of the question is.

Noah has gone into the exam knowing in advance that he wants to write a thesis statement which explains two aspects of context - one, that this is a socialist play, and two, that the tragedy is Aristotelian.

This means that he is not really integrating his context into his argument - it kind of stands on its own here. It is only at the end of the thesis statement that he uses the key words of the question ‘the younger generation’.

This means his thesis statement ignores the second bullet point of AO3.

So, my advice is, do plan your thesis statement in advance. But, in the exam, make it relevant to the question as quickly as possible by introducing the key words from the question in your first line.

Priestley portrays the younger generation of 1912 to promote his socialist message to their children in 1945. His play follows the Aristotelian conventions of tragedy in order to illustrate the terrible consequences of not following socialist principles in society between 1912 and 1945.

This is a very weak quote to back up the idea that Eric is a socialist. His words about the Birlings seeking higher profits justifying the workers’ need for higher wages would have been much better here.

" Why shouldn't they try for higher wages? We try for the highest possible prices ."

But, the examiner has a kind of checklist of Priestley’s ideas:

Eric is sympathetic to the working classes

He challenges his father’s capitalist ideas

Edwardian society was patriarchal, so Eric also attacks the sexist control of women

Noah writes about all of these, so it’s tick, tick, tick from the examiner.

Paid subscribers get a fully marked grade 9 answer every week. And they get access to the 50+ already published.

Substack lets you access all these for free in a 7 day trial!

Noah has introduced an alternative interpretation of Eric’s behaviour here, which is always going to give you higher grades.

He leaps to this a little too quickly, as we don’t see exactly what social responsibility Eric is denying - his alcoholism, his stealing from his father, his probable rape of Eva - but Noah is beginning to make the case that perhaps Eric has not learned the Inspector’s lesson or, if he has, that it will not have enough power for Eric to make use of it.

This is a sophisticated argument. Although the younger generation might hold socialist beliefs, they will never be able to live up to them because of the privileged lifestyle they’ve led, and the wealth they continue to enjoy.

There are no extra marks for using the words ‘proletariat’, ‘bourgeois’ (adjective) and ‘bourgeoisie’ (noun). Noah actually confuses the last two. So, I tend not to use these words - working class and upper class are good enough for me.

Notice how Noah writes about society and Priestley’s views - this is what earns the marks.

You should know by now that writing about the characters as ‘constructs’ is the way to show the examiners you understand the writer’s ideas.

Noah uses this as a springboard to analyse Priestley’s ideas about social responsibility.

Writing about one character as the ‘foil’ of another also emphasises how the play is constructed in order to promote Priestley’s message (in simplistic terms younger generation good vs their foil, older generation bad).

The quote ‘ we are members of one body ’ would have helped Noah here. It is one I would slip into every essay.

This paragraph has gone a bit rogue. Noah doesn’t tell us what was ‘vile’. He doesn’t link Mrs Birling’s actions, in denying charity to Eva, to the consequence: Eva’s suicide and murder of her unborn child.

So, he loses a lot of Priestley’s message and anger.

However, he is able to link to Priestley’s ideas, so it scores marks.

You’ll notice that Noah keeps bringing context into his explanations of Priestley’s ideas. This is excellent.

(You never have to introduce context by saying ‘contextually’, in the same way that you wouldn’t introduce your analysis by saying ‘analytically’).

This is a weaker analysis of Mrs Birling’s language, but the examiner is happy because Noah is linking it to Priestley’s socialist ideas.

Noah makes this relevant to the question by always referring to the perspectives of the older and younger generations.

This is a bit confusion.

Noah makes the strong case that Mrs Birling is being wilfully blind to Eric’s actions and responsibility.

He suggests that Priestley uses this to criticise upper class society, as this is what Mrs Birling represents.

But he also asserts that this is a criticism of the patriarchal society and that Mrs Birling is a victim of it. This needs a lot more explanation to make sense.

Points 1 and 2 score well, but point 3 is left hanging.

As soon as you say that the Inspector is a proxy for Priestley’s views, you are treating the Inspector as a construct.

So, you get higher marks.

Linking Priestley’s portrayal of the younger generation to his desire for social responsibility is a strong link to the conclusion.

The socialist and Christian context of 1945 is also cleverly linked to the theme of social responsibility.

Ready for more?

Home — Essay Samples — Literature — An Inspector Calls — Responsibility of Characters in ‘An Inspector Calls’

Responsibility of Characters in 'An Inspector Calls'

• Categories: An Inspector Calls Character

About this sample

Words: 1903 |

10 min read

Published: Feb 8, 2022

Words: 1903 | Pages: 4 | 10 min read

Cite this Essay

Let us write you an essay from scratch

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Dr Jacklynne

Verified writer

• Expert in: Literature

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

2 pages / 997 words

4 pages / 1712 words

2.5 pages / 1236 words

2 pages / 820 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Related Essays on An Inspector Calls

Mr. Arthur Birling, a prominent character in J.B. Priestley's play "An Inspector Calls," is a complex individual whose perspectives and actions offer insight into the prevailing attitudes of his time. This essay delves into the [...]

J.B. Priestley's play "An Inspector Calls" delves into the complexities of societal attitudes and generational differences. The interplay between the older and younger characters serves as a lens through which themes of class, [...]

Guilt, a complex and deeply human emotion, serves as a prominent thematic element in the play "An Inspector Calls" by J.B. Priestley. The exploration of guilt is a central aspect of the characters' experiences and the overall [...]

How is Eric presented in An Inspector Calls? This essay analyzes Eric Birling as an influential and significant character in the play. Priestly uses Eric's character to show the change in the younger generation and his own [...]

Some individuals possess greater authority than others. The possession of authority is beneficial and makes life more pleasant but although it brings so much ease to life, it can easily be abused to bring harm to others. In the [...]

Sheila’s character changes massively throughout J.B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls, often in a manner that registers increasing maturity. At first, Sheila is presented through stage directions as a ‘pretty girl in her early [...]

Related Topics

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Where do you want us to send this sample?

By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Be careful. This essay is not unique

This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before

Download this Sample

Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts

Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.

Please check your inbox.

We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

An Inspector Calls

J. b. priestley, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on J. B. Priestley's An Inspector Calls . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

An Inspector Calls: Introduction

An inspector calls: plot summary, an inspector calls: detailed summary & analysis, an inspector calls: themes, an inspector calls: quotes, an inspector calls: characters, an inspector calls: symbols, an inspector calls: theme wheel, brief biography of j. b. priestley.

Historical Context of An Inspector Calls

Other books related to an inspector calls.

• Full Title: An Inspector Calls
• When Written: 1945
• Where Written: England
• When Published: 1945 (play premiered in Soviet Union)
• Literary Period: mid-20th century British drama, social realism
• Genre: Mystery drama
• Setting: 1912; a comfortable home in Brumley, England
• Climax: Gerald returns to the Birling home after Goole has left, to report that the Inspector wasn’t actually a real inspector, and to hypothesize that the whole thing was a hoax—that there was no single girl that all of the Birlings had offended, and no suicide that they precipitated.

Extra Credit for An Inspector Calls

Ghoulish Goole. Many interpretations of the text consider the Inspector’s ghostly name to be symbolic of the mystery that surrounds his character.