J.B. Priestleys Inspector Calls :: Priestley Inspector Calls Essays

J.B. Priestleys Inspector CallsJ B Priestley presents the readers with a fascinating persist of guiltand innocence, of prejudice and hypocrisy. But there argon parts of thisplay that i fail to understand.Mr and Mrs Birling are a middle class couple with two children, Ericand Shelia. Shelia is engaged to an upper class humanness named GeraldCroft.It is not everyday that an inspector should turn up at a house filledwith people with such(prenominal) a high status. However, Mr Birling and Mr Croftare respected gentlemen, so why does Priestley leave it so unclear tothem, and us, as to whether Eva Smith is one person or several? Thereare many another(prenominal) possible answers to this question as different people willhave different views and opinions as to why Priestly does this.However, I am going to address my interpretations of why he chose todo this.There are certain things that readers must notice to be able tounderstand the question Does it affect your response to the playthat Priestly leaves it unclear whether there is one Eva Smith orseveral. For example, the fact that on questioning members of theBirling family and Mr Croft, the inspector insists that only oneperson sees the dash at any one time, and that that person mustbe the one who is being questioned. Of course, it is possible thatthis is the way in which this particular inspector does his work.However, if he were to allow everyone in the Birling household see the evidence at the same time, by the time he questioned the other familymembers they would have had time to react to the picture and would beable to pretend that they didnt know the girl, whereas dealing withthem individually enables the inspector to notice any suspiciousbehaviour. Also, could it be that there is a political message hiddenin this investigation? The actions of Mr and Mrs Birling show thatthey are unaware of the impact that they have on the lives of peoplein the working class, such as Eva Smith. They show no sign of remors eor regret, even after hearing that their actions and the selfishdecisions of their children and future son-in-law contributed to thekilling of a young defenceless woman. However, if this woman was of ahigher status, perhaps their views would be very different. Class wasa very important aspect of social life in the 1900s and I believethat the Inspector was trying to show the Birlings and Mr Croft, thatit is not the most important thing about people.Eva Smith was working class, she had little money and was lonely.