The character of the inspector is written by Priestley as a representation of morality in the play. The manner of The inspector is one the Birling's find rather disconcerting. This question of his character grows throughout the play, mirroring Sheila's and the audience's growing suspicion of him.” we didn't tell him anything he didn't already know" This all knowing quality of the character of the inspector gives a sense of being super natural, a quality confirmed by Priestley during the Inspector's outburst at the end in which he foretells the prophecy of 'fire, blood and anguish' giving the audience an underlying sense of unease at the reference to war. Therefore showing them the consequences of a lack of responsibility. This ironic hindsight into the war also gives the audience a sense of the inspector's wisdom.
Therefore, religion is a conservative force. For example, religion prevents a false class conscience which prevents the working class from realising their true potential and keeps them oppressed. As a result, religion prevents a true class conscience where the working class realise they are being exploited. Moreover, religion acts a form of “compensation” for the working class as the belief in God and heaven offers the working class compensation for the misery the experience through capitalism. Marxists argue that religion promises us happiness, but this is an illusion hiding the truth; true happiness can only be found in a revolution.
He believes that it was the role of the government that would keep these instincts in line. If these instincts were not controlled it would lead to war. Hobbes views were shaped by his life experiences during the English Civil War. He believed people were evil and selfish. Hobbes idea that “people orbiting their ruler” leads me to the idea of socialism/communism (Sayre, 2012).
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.
While their opinion of what kind of people need to be removed from society differs, these men are in fact identical when it comes to their aims of proving their deep-rooted, megalomaniacal conceptions of society infallible. Major Barbara’s Andrew Undershaft, is a cunning and godless capitalist who was adopted into the business of manufacturing artillery by the Undershaft tradition. Due to the nature of his merchandise and his business role in society, the morals he practices are ones developed to serve a greater purpose. Undershaft’s primary moral belief is that poverty is, “The worst of all crimes”, and that all other crimes are an indirect cause of having a lower class. Correspondingly, he implies that the people who continue to practice poverty only do so in an obsession to uphold subordinate religious morals.
Bourgeois vs. Proletarians Karl Marx’s purpose for writing the article The Communist Manifesto was to persuade the proletarians, class of modern wage-laborers, to rise against the bourgeois, class of modern Capitalists, and settle a level of equality. He himself grew up in “a middle-class family in Germany” (56). After the publication of this article Marx was forced to “flee Paris and eventually to seek exile in London” (56). However, even though Marx uses good evidence and emotion to convince his stance to be the right move forward, he is unsuccessful in changing the thinking of the proletarians. In the article, Marx attempt to clarify the goals of Communism, as well as underline the theory behind the movement.
Huck is widely influenced by Miss Watson and widow Douglas by acting in a more civilized manner. He is also influenced by his father who has an affect on him to act like a hoodlum once again. Jim, the slave, has the most important effect on Huckleberry Finn by indirectly teaching him about loyalty regardless if its breaking a law. The king and the Duke also have an impact on him by showing him the lack of morals. Towards the end of the story Huckleberry's friend Tom Sawyer begins to have an impact on the way he acts in his society at the time.
In An Inspector Calls, Priestly presents responsibility as one of the key themes, believing that in life everyone is responsible for their actions and for the consequences which follow, affecting other people. This idea is shown throughout the play through actions, words and behaviour of the characters. In my essay, I am going to explore the words and behaviour of specific characters to demonstrate Priestly's point of view. At the beginning of the play, the majority of the characters, excluding Inspector Goole, are participating in a celebratory event where Mr. Birling fully expresses his views about responsibility. He talks about how they shouldn't be responsible for looking out for others: 'But what so many of you don't seem to understand now, when things are so much easier, is that a man has to make his own way- hasto look after himself- and his family too, of course, when he has one- and so long he does that he won't come to much harm."
Inspector calls-Social responsibility In An Inspector Calls, the central theme is responsibility. Priestley is interested in our personal responsibility for our own actions and our collective responsibility to society. The play explores the effect of class, age and sex on people's attitudes to responsibility, and shows how prejudice can prevent people from acting responsibly. Priestley was a socialist and one of the big questions he is asking his audience is ‘How should society be organised?’ He is offering us a choice between socialism in which the rich are compelled to share their wealth or through capitalism where you are allowed to keep more of your money. Priestly puts across his social message by making the inspector to try get the others to accept that all people share a common humanity and so are all put of an independent community.
Explore the ways a key theme (collective responsibility) is developed in the drama (An Inspector Calls). Use evidence to support your answer. An Inspector Calls written by socialist writer J.B Priestley in which he employs the characters within the story to portray a message for the rest of society, presenting collective responsibility in a dramatic way. There was a great social divide in the Victorian era and with the introduction of labour in the Edwardian era, things began to change. His opinions of the capitalist society are represented through the events in one dining room in this polemic.