Preview

How Is Responsibility Presented in an Inspector Calls

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1076 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How Is Responsibility Presented in an Inspector Calls
The older generation can be exemplified through Mrs Birling, Mrs Birling and Gerald, their attitudes revolve around protecting their own social status whereby do not seem to care for anyone but themselves and their family, this can be recognised when the Inspector reveals all about Eva Smith, and their reaction to this awful death, even though they are involved, seems to be non-existent, through evidence from the inspector, they still persist that they haven 't participated to this death. They are completely unsympathetic towards the girl and take no responsibility for their actions as their domineering behaviour makes them feel as if they have done nothing wrong this can be shown when Mrs Birling states “I think she had only herself to blame.” by stating this she reiterates to the Inspector that she feels she has no involvement in the death, by stating 'only herself to blame ' in relevance to Eva’s death is very cruel and self-centred, as she is clearly trying to revert back to it being Eva 's fault therefore diminishing herself and her family out of the equation even though she can be considered to play a large part in her death.

As they are higher class than this girl they also feel as though the death is less important, as Mrs Birling states 'Girls of that class -” this demonstrates that she was prejudice towards the girl whereby due to her class and her position (getting pregnant and not being married) she was therefore not eligible to deserve any money from the charity, this can also be reiterated from when she states “I 'm Mrs Birling, know” by patronising the Inspector she 's reminding him of her status, showing him that she should not have an involvement because she is of a higher class than him she therefore feels she doesn 't have to take any responsibility, due to her class. Her belittling the Inspector makes her think that she will be able to play no part in the death even though her actions have led to this, she cannot accept any responsibility

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    The older generation, for example, is very keen to forgive themselves and forget what happen in their dealings with Eva Smith, which is where their traits are demonstrated. We learn that Mrs Birling is very judgemental and haughty, and both she and her husband have a sense of social superiority about them. They both fail to learn anything from their experiences because they are so set in their ways, ways which Birling voiced at the start of the play during his speech, where he told them all to forget about “community and all that nonsense” and “make their own way”, and even after the inspector has called and exposes what each of them has done, the older generation still feel the need to cling to this way of life, and rebuild the wall that the inspector has previously knocked down. We also find that the older generation are not just forgetting what the inspector has said, but they are also forgetting some of the things they did themselves – they seem to be misremembering what happened to suit themselves – and Mrs Birling is a good example of this when she says “he certainly didn’t make me confess – as you call it. I told him quite plainly that I thought I had done no more than my duty”, which we know didn’t actually happen, and that she is making things up and selectively remembering things to make herself look…

    • 314 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    As soon as they meet in act one, Birling attempts to show his social superiority to the Inspector, boasting about his contacts in the police force, this shows Birlings character and the type of person he is, big headed and boastfull. Within the play Mr and Mrs Birling seems to be the only characters that are unable to accept the fact that they helped in the death of eva smith. In contrast to Mr and Mrs Birling Sheila has total opposite views and realises what she did was wrong, and wishes that she could go back and never get Eva sacked-…

    • 1084 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Inspector Calls Summary

    • 296 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Inspector continues his questioning and more is revealed of the Birling’s family contribution to Eva Smith’s death; Gerald used Eva Smith as a mistress to his desires and Mrs Birling turned Eva Smith out when she was appealing for help. Also Mrs Birling unintentionally condemns her own son’s actions even suggesting that he take up responsibility for his actions in public.…

    • 296 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    J.B Priestley was born in Bradford, Yorkshire on 13th September 1894. He firm believer of socialism which is a political theory or system in which the means of production and distribution are controlled by the people therefore he disagrees firmly with capitalism. Priestley set his play in 1912 because the date symbolized an period when all was very unusual from the time he was writing. In 1912, inflexible class and gender restrictions seemed to guarantee that nothing would change. However by 1945 the majority of class and gender divisions had been infringed. Priestley wanted to make the most of these changes. The Inspector wants to teach the Birling Family to care about other and not only themselves and he wants to show that social status and wealth are not significant factors. One of Priestley’s major concerns was that even that the war has ended people were living in poverty and living depressed lives. I think that J.B Priestley is trying to tell people that they shouldn’t rejoice after the war because several people have been killed. Priestley shows that there shouldn’t be a division between people of different class. In 1912 the Birling family lead a comfortable life Birling is a prime example of a capitalist, J.B Priestley is keen to highlight the selfishness of him in the play. J.B Priestley wanted to highlight what was right and wrong in society as it is a morality play .In this essay I am going to investigate how J.B Priestley uses dramatic devices to intrigue the audience.…

    • 820 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When talking about Eva Smith, she says, ‘Girls of that class – ’. The word ‘that’ suggests that she prefers to detach herself from anyone who belongs to a class lower than her own. This attitude explains her complete disgust when Eva Smith introduces herself as “Mrs Birling”, an act which Mrs Birling identifies as “a piece of gross impertinence” (pg.45) . Hearing Eva Smith identify herself as a Mrs Birling shocked her so much that she hadn’t considered why Eva would have done that. Her admitted prejudice took over any rational thinking.…

    • 560 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mrs Birling was the final person who had the chance to give Eva Smith help as she was the last person to see her alive. This means she was the final person to possibly give her help which in no case proves her to be the one to blame it wasn't her 'who had her turned out of her employment which probable began it all.' Eva Smith came to her right before her death ,when she was most desperate, with the name Miss Birling. This 'was naturally one of the things that prejudiced' Mrs Birling about the case because she was most probably ashamed to be linked in with a lower class person and might of felt embaressed with the other members of the charity. This however due to the fact Eva was pregnant left her with not many choices. Mrs Birling however didn't seem to care stating 'In these circumstances I think I was perfectly justified' she never actually admits to anything as she 'did nothing to be ashamed of.' However she does seem very stresses during the exchange which may show a bit of guilty under tone when she snaps at her husband 'Please remember before you start accusing me of anything that it wasn't me who had her turned out of her employment...' This is not a way she would normally talk to her husband during this time and might indicate a small amount of guilt as she didn't want to take responsibility as she can see she might have been in the wrong. One slight difference however when Mrs Birling was being…

    • 1397 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In act 1 The Birling family and Gerald are celebrating Gerald and Sheila's engagement in the dining room. Sheila and Eric are arguing in a not really serious way, while Gerald and Mr. Birling are talking about business, politics mostly about the Titanic. Mr. Birling is on his way to the next social class by getting an knighthood. Lady Croft has a very strong view of social classes; it looks like she isn't too happy about the fact, that her son is engaged to a girl of a lower class. Just before the ring bells and the inspector arrives, Mr. Birling shows his outlook on life to Gerald and Eric "a man has to make his own way, has to look after himself and his family". The inspector enters and tells them about the suicide. He shows a photograph to Mr.Birling. and starts questioning him. It turns out that Eva Smith had been one of Mr.Birlings. employees and later on was discharged because she asked for more money, had been refused and went on a strike along with allot of other employees, and was later fired for being one of the…

    • 529 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mrs Birling acts as if she is sensitive and caring towards Eva Smith’s death “I’m sorry she should have come to such a horrible end. But I accept no blame for it at all.” At first the reader is convinced that Mrs. Birling is feeling considerate towards Eva – however, the use of the conjunction “but” tells us otherwise- since the conjunction twists the tone into a negative one. Hence she is returning to her cruel and spiteful nature. Additionally the fact that she is avoiding blame emphasises she does not want responsibility because it might cause a scandal to the family which underlines her snobbish behaviour.…

    • 433 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Birlings are a family of wealth and power, who take pride in their high social position. Mr. Birling is a successful businessman, and the family inhabits a nice home with a maid (and likely other servants). The play begins with the family celebrating and feeling generally pleased with themselves and their fortunate circumstance. Throughout the Inspector’s investigation, however, it comes out that several of the Birlings have used their power and influence immorally, in disempowering and worsening the position of a girl from a lower class: Mr. Birling used his high professional position to force Eva Smith out of his factory when she led a faction of workers in demanding a raise; Sheila, in a bad temper, used her social status and her family’s…

    • 169 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Sheila Birling Changes

    • 1286 Words
    • 6 Pages

    An Inspector Calls is a definitive play written by J.B Priestley. It explores the many themes that wove through society before the first world war, such lack of social responsibility, social disparity between different classes and the gap of understanding and contemplating between the two dissimilar generations – the young and the old. In this essay, I will be exploring the character Sheila Birling and how and why does she change in the play, in response to the Inspector and to her family.…

    • 1286 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Priestly creates mood and atmosphere when the inspector mentions why Eva came to Mrs Birling’s charity organisation for help. “It was because she was going to have a child that she went for assistance to your mother’s committee”. This creates this mood because the audience might think that Gerald is the father.…

    • 340 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mrs Birling is Mr Birling’s social superior (Priestley tells us this in the stage directions) and we see that when Mrs Birling tells Mr Birling off when he said that the food was good in front of Gerald, as upper class families do not address their help. This tells us that Mrs Birling takes social etiquette very seriously- believing that a good reputation will improve her family’s status. It also tells us that even though Mr Birling is head of the household, Mrs Birling’s social background makes her the one in control of the marriage- just like Gerald. Also when Mrs Birling talks about marriage, stating that, “When you’re married you’ll realise that men with important work to do sometimes have to spend nearly all their time and energy on their business. You’ll have to get used to that, just as I had.” Priestley makes Mrs Birling consider marriage like it’s more of a…

    • 505 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Inspector Calls

    • 768 Words
    • 2 Pages

    We also realise later on in the play that Sheila is very perceptive, and a lot clever than she may have seemed on the surface, much more so than her parents. We see this when Mrs Birling is blaming the father of Eva Smith’s child (who we soon find out to be Eric Birling himself) for her suicide. Sheila tries to stop her mother from speaking out because she realises before anyone else the horrible situation that her mother is putting the family in. This shows the audience a huge contrast between Sheila and her mother that the Inspector has drawn out, and how she is altogether more perceptive and open than her parents. She understands the consequences of not cooperating with the Inspector and whilst the realisation about Eric exposes her mother as a hypocrite, it shows us that Sheila has intelligence and awareness that we have never seen before, and we, as the readers, warm to her.…

    • 768 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    An Inspector Calls

    • 592 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Near the beginning of the play, Priestley authenticates that Sheila is a loyal member to the Birling family. “What do you mean by saying that? You talk as if we were responsible.” Here Sheila demonstrates signs of loyalty and commitment to her family because she is almost fighting their corner. However this also exhibits that she lacks understanding isn't very socially aware and she is quite irresponsible. Although, as the play advances Sheila portrays signs of development in her responsibility. “Between us we drove that girl to commit suicide.” Here Priestley demonstrates a growth of how responsible Sheila has become, because she is admitting that Eva Smiths suicide death was moderately her fault. Priestley does this to support his views about how there shouldn't be any social class and everybody should be treated equally. He uses a young character to portray this because Priestley says that young people are more susceptible to change, so he used Sheila because as the play moves on she changes her opinions and views about certain things. So Priestley uses her as a comparison to show how people can change as well, in due time.…

    • 592 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Act 1, Priestley uses the character of Inspector Goole to arrive unexpectedly at the Birlings household and not only shatter the very foundations of their lives but challenge us all to examine our senses of right and wrong. His use of the Inspector opens the door to explore responsibility in this play as he one by one challenges them to reveal their guilt. I think that the idea of the play and particularly the role of the Inspector are to try to bring the Birling family to understand that they have a moral responsibility for the death of Eva Smith, if not a legal one. Therefore it could be said that Eva Smith was simply a victim of her class and time. This point is very significant and is the basis of the entire play, to grasp it is imperative to the understanding of the play, without this, an analysis of responsibility would be far more difficult.…

    • 1009 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays