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an inspector calls:) - Coggle Diagram
an inspector calls:)
gerald
social responsibility
gerald's reluctance to admit the truth at first reinforces how importance his status is to him, telling the truth may damage it infront of his new family - more of desperacy to cling onto his reputation than anyone else
the priotisation of his status, highlights the lower level of morality gerald has compared to sheila and eric
'i didn't'
obvious lie, gerald did know eva, but has an attempt at getting around it, to protect who people know him as, gerald is often reluctant to get too deep into the situation, his blindness to his responsibility often means he wants to stand at the sides and not be directly blamed
classes
'easy, well-bred young man about town'
initial higher level of maturity compared to eric, at the beginning of the play
eric, however shows a better understanding of morality by the end of the play
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gerald adopts a different reaction to eva's death when he finds out that she's the girl he had an affair/real contact with. the fact that he shakes off her death so easily around the beginning of the play perhaps shows the distinct wall between classes, gerald had no contact with eva, when mr birling dismissed her, therefore making her death irrelevant and of no importance to him
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morality
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'sorry – I – well, I've suddenly realized – taken it in properly – that's she's dead--'
unearthing of gerald's sense of morality, humanisation of eva at long last, and feeling of upset that he did actually know her.
gerald is a complex character floating in between the 2 generations, as he has fluidity of his personality and morals, depending on the context, he has a stronger sense of morality then mr and mrs birling but, is too rigidly capitalist to act as remosrseful as eric and sheila
eric
generational diffrences
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contextually, priestley uses eric and sheila, as characters that represent a hope and change in the future, they're easily remorseful as well as eager to learn and understand society's issues, both showing a new factious approach to the inspector's presence
classes
eric's character shows how young men were trapped in the rigid ideas and structures of the families of their class at the time
eric's actions breaks the expectations of his class - leaving his narrow-minded parents almost repulsed by what he did
responsibilty
'you killed her'
short and cold wording, prevents the blame from gently being pushed around any further. eric's dismissal of previous euphemisms effectively gets his point across, reinforcing his strong sense of responsibility by the end of the play
the inspector's arrival helps eric's get a grasp on his responsibility as someone of the higher classes
change
'you know don't you?'
quick sense of defeat, eric's admitting his flaws before the inspector even starts unlike many of the other characters who softly play around with the blame, before trying to accept it
a character who was presented as a childish 'boy' to one who is mature and transparent enough to accept and understand the part he had to play in eva's death
treatment of women
'i wasn't in love with her or anything, but I liked her, she was pretty'
eric's a prime subject of men's view on women, priestley brings this issue to the surface, it's wrong and demoral
women were dehumanised, without even consciously realising, eric objectifies eva, calling her out for her looks and how she was just pretty, a trait only her could gain from
eric's quick wording illustrates his reckless ways in the play, his flaws as a character fall under this, despite it sometimes being useful, in being rapid to become remorseful
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mrs birling
responsible due to the public influence she has, she is the opposite of the agent of change priestley wants
'girls of that class!'
extensive lack of sympathy, her initial focus to the news is towards eva's class, somewhere she can place the blame
the fact that eva has dies in such a tragic way is incomprehensible to mrs birling due to the gap between classes, she is so far from being able to sympathize with eva (priestley's aim is to close this gap)
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used as a symbol of hypocrisy of the upper classes due to her working for a charity despite her 'cold' and individualistic nature
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shadowed by her class place, she's so dethatched from society that her attitude to eva's suffering is unnatural, irrational and harsh
'What an expression, Sheila! Really the things you girls pick up these days!’'
shows mrs birling's conservatism and the fact that she's blinded to the severity of what 'girls' in the lower experience
the idea that sheila has picked up 'bad language' is the extent of her concerns, makes her views seem small compared to the other ideas presented in the play
she's constantly oblivious to the severity of the situation, she's so trapped in her ways that she has no room for any compassion, eva's class is something she can't stand being associated with
the inspector
morality
'will burn in fire, blood and anguish'
the inspector is steadfast in this morals, which is shown through his resistance to corruption
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refers to eva by her real name as opposed to the superficial way the birlings do, he sees her as more of an individual, her class place is irrelevant to him
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'creates at once an impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness'
use of abstract nouns to show how the inspector instantly differs from the other characters, his character is presented as constant and timeless, reinforcing the views he presents and the ones priestley wants to portray
contextually a representation of the ideas priestley wants to get across, the views that he may not be real are irrelevant due to the morals and socialist ideals he stands for being what should be remembered about him
priestley wants the audience to realise that a person's class is irrelevant to their degree of responsibility
'plain dark suit'
the inspector has no intent to attract attention to himself, his purpose differs from this, he has no need to reinforce his views by his appearance
supernatural
the inspector is perhaps seen as supernatural, which reinforces that his purpose isn't to put the Birlings on 'trial' but is to force the Birlings to realise the immorality of their actions
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eva smith
character use
represents the oppression of women and lower classes at the time due to her being a victim of the patriarchal society
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her death is necessary to show the consequences of the other characters' immoral actions, and the fatal impact of the class system and how others are treated
biblical context
link between 'eva' and 'eve' in the garden of Eden, in hebrew 'eva' mans 'life', which therefore makes her suicide paradoxical. she may be a symbol for others who are having to live with the conditions she lived in
parallels to sheila
to highlight the difference in young womens life depending on the family they're born into, priestley can comment on the inequality within this
shows how sheila has been shielded and her naivety juxtaposes the experiences eva has had to deal with
treatment from men
subject to patriarchy and is seen as an inferior demographic, it was normalised that she could be treated that way
both gerald and eric use eva for 'pleasure', lack of real love and compassion between class divides and relationships, which was the only thing eva really needed
sheila
similar to eric, shows a resentment to the lack of social responsibility their parents adopt
subject to patriarchy, her relationship with gerald is built on materialism and capitalism
to validation she gets from gerald around the ring, is a physical representation of the nature of their men-lead marriage
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