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An Inspector Calls - Coggle Diagram
An Inspector Calls
Characters
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Mr Birling
Mr Birling is a fierce capitalist. Only cares for the prosperity of his own company, even at the sacrifice for his labourers wellbeing. When Mr birling discovers that no suicide had taken place at the end of the play, he is relieved that it would not create a scandal. He is resistant to any lesson and remains unchanged by it. His old fashioned views also reflect that of men as superior to women, and the inability to adapt to change and see new ideas.
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Eric
Eric joins Sheila in her stance in judgement of their parents influence and is ashamed of his parents because they overlook the significance of the bad deeds they all committed. He also disapproved of his father's decision to deny Eva Smith's request for higher wages.
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Themes
Communism vs Capitalism
Capitalism
Mr Birling, a rich businessman is often used as a symbol for capitalism. His selfish greed caused the first event that led to the death of Eva Smith. Mr Birling is a narrow minded person. He sees the lower class as simply cheap labour and not actual people. He exploits workers so that he himself may get richer. The Birling family as a whole is also a symbol for a capitalist family, who have little morals and take little responsibility for others. The play shows corruption in a capitalist society, with wealth concentrated in a small portion of the population. Powerful people have the power to push people even further down the social ladder. Due to being blinded by power, they lack morals and represent the implicit corruption of the upper class.
Socialism
Priestley uses the inspector and Sheila to voice his ideas about communism. He presents the ideas of collective responsibility through the inspector. Sheila also starts to lean towards ideas of communism, as she starts to see the wrong in the previous actions of herself and her parents. She takes responsibility for her actions, and is more compassionate and sees the working class as real people.
Blame and Responsiblity
As the play progresses, we are taken through each characters responsibility for the death of Eva Smith. The inspector's lesson is that our actions have consequences on those beyond ourselves, and so therefore we live in a system of responsibility for each other, so long as we are responsible for our own actions. Birling thinks we can go through our lives only caring about ourselves. Mrs Birling shares similar views and she takes no blame for the death of eva smith and puts it on the father, who she realises to be gerald.
Young vs Old generation
The younger generation in the play are presented as far more adaptable and understanding. When the causes for Eva smith's death are uncovered, the older generation (Mr & Mrs Birling) are unwilling to accept responsibility and change their ways. Sheila especially, and even eric are far more sorry for their actions. This shows how Priestley believed that the younger generation were the hope for the future and could bring about political change in britain.
Gender
The play presents socialism to be far more forward thinking in terms of gender equality. This could be due to the principal that everyone is equal. Mr Birling sees women as less intelligent and superior, believing that men should be dealing with problems. We also see this in the hierarchy between gerald and sheila. At first gerald is far more superior in the relationship, but as sheila matures and becomes a socialist, she starts to become more dominant in the relationship.
Context
Written in England 1945. Set just before first world war in 1912, a time of rising tension and rapid industrial expansion. Priestley hosted a radio show called 'Postscripts' broadcasting left-wing politics. At this time, the labour party was beginning to gain increased leverage and socialism was on a rise in many places.