An Inspector Calls is a play with lots of political messages as well as social messages. J. B. Priestley believed in socialism and he used large amounts of his plays to try and convince people to his way of thinking. It was written in a time when Britain was ruled by a Labour government and socialist policies were seen to be the right way to go. It was a common way of thinking at that time so Priestley's aim for the play was to influence the unconvinced in society.
During the blitz, the government wanted to try and keep the morale and ‘blitz spirit’ because this was what Hitler was determined to destroy. They achieved this mainly through the Ministry of Information, whose main job was to see how the people of Britain were feeling, and then use censorship and propaganda to counter their mood. They used the Mass Observation team to overhear people’s everyday conversations and work out how they felt about certain aspects of the war. Then, instead of putting the problems right, they would launch campaigns to make everyone feel better about them or forget about them. For example, the Mass Observation team picked up that people didn’t feel safe using the government shelters.
Therefore Liberals wanted constitutional reform and more power to be given to the Reichstag. Whereas socialists demanded social reform and power to the workers and trade unions. However conservatives, such as Bismarck wanted to conserve to the Junkers – the elite class. To do this he proposed the Anti-Socialist Law in 1879 and also passed the Tariff Law, which appeased the liberals. The years leading up to the war the German people were dreading it, there were protests in Berlin in July 1914.
An Inspector Calls is a play with lots of political messages as well as social messages. J. B. Priestley believed in socialism and he used large amounts of his plays to try and convince people to his way of thinking. It was written in a time when Britain was ruled by a Labour government and socialist policies were seen to be a good way to go. It was a common way of thinking at that time so Priestley's aim for the play was to influence the unconvinced in society.
The whole way through the play the Inspector keeps reminding the family that there isn’t one of them that will be getting away with anything as they are united in blame. The inspector is clearly a socialistic character in the play, Priestley uses him to introduce the theme of social responsibility. However, as well as this the younger generation are eventually used to show the idea of socialism. Eric and Shelia also begin to side with the Inspector and the way Priestley has managed to develop the theme of social responsibility is by making the younger generation change to take over roles of the Inspector and therefore agree with him. This also means that you can understand that Eric and Sheila can understand the concept that everyone is partially to blame for the death of the girl.
He left in 1919, having seen active front-line service in France and having narrowly escaped being killed when a German shell exploded three yards away from him and having been a victim of a gas-attack. In “An Inspector Calls”, Priestley uses a lot of his political views in the Inspectors speeches by using him as a kind of a mouthpiece for his socialism. The play was written in 1946; however it was set in 1912, just before the outbreak of WWI. This was a new era when people were no longer willing to accept the poverty or the class system that had gone before. Priestley strongly believed that everyone had some responsibility for others in society and not just their own welfare.
The Appearance and Approach of The Inspector Serves More Than One Purpose for J.B Priestly, discuss? „Proletarier aller Länder vereinigt Euch!” (Workers of the world, Unite!) - Karl Marx It can be assumed that Priestley’s overall motivation for writing ‘An Inspector Calls’ is to promote a socialist worldview. In the play, Priestley uses a lot of his political views in the Inspectors speeches by using him almost as a mouthpiece for his own socialism. But what else does the image of the Inspector as a character represent?
Whenever the government attempts to regulate things that should be handled by personal responsibility then it takes that responsibility off the people. When the government does this, it gives the American population a reason to blame the government for our own flaws. He clearly points this out when he says, “Our government ought to be working to foster a personal responsibility for our health and well-being.” In his writing, Balko uses several methods of persuading his audience. He uses the examples from life. He discusses how benefits for the physically fit have been banned from insurance policies.
Fowler displays his political opinion in his conversation with Pyle about York Harding, his views on the war become clear after the bombing outside the rue Catinat and during his journey to Tanyin. At one stage Fowler slips up when Pyle and himself come under Vietminh attack, “They are supposed to be on our side.” “I thought you didn’t have a side.” “Touché… I wish the Viets knew it.” This statement demonstrates that Fowler does take sides but does not want to and does
It seems like an odd conversation but the men were using whatever they could to get their minds off of the war. “Gentlemen your Verdict” is about a commander in a war who gets placed himself in a tricky situation he has to choose between morals and saving lives. “War” reminds me of while the war was happening, the families are morning their loses and “G.Y.V” is more after the war since it’s a flashback. I compared these because for me they are connected into one story. The two stories were written at different times “War” was based in 1914 but wasn’t published until