Analysis Of An Inspector Calls, By J. B. Priestley

An inspector calls was written by J.B.Priestly, Priestley presents the character of the inspector as a defense of socialism as Priestley was a defensor of the socialist party. The play was set in 1912 which is also linked with 1945 as it is about the same century. the play transmits a lot of political and social messages as Priestley believed in socialism and used his plays to convince people of his way of thinking. The play is about a family who are in a lunch room celebrating their daughter's engagement, when a mysterious inspector called Inspector Goole comes and starts to examine every family member cording to the suicide of a young working class woman that died in the infirmary. Surprisingly each member of the family has a shameful secret which is linked to her death and so on the inspector does his duty.

Straight from the introduction inspector imposes control and authority as in his entrance, Priestley uses
For example he uses the final speech of the play made by the Inspector to summarize his views. Priestley wanted this speech to make the audience listen carefully. You can see it is a speech from the way it is structured and the language used. For example, “But just remember this. One Eva Smith has gone- but there are millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths still left with us, their hopes and fears, their suffering and chance of happiness, all intertwined with our lives, with what we say and do.” This is very powerful; the points are made quickly and sharply. Perfect for an audience to hear and take in. The speech goes on to talk about how we are all responsible for each other and if we don’t learn this we will all “be taught in blood, fire and anguish.” This is with reference to the Second World War which Priestly knows will come if we don’t learn our lessons from the First World