Act 3 Flashcards
Eric – “I was in a state when a chap easily turns nasty- and I threatened a row”
Interpretation- Eric struggles to be honest about his dealings with Eva, using euphemism to cover up his violent, possibly criminal actions. He implies that being a man and being drunk justify his behaviour.
Techniques – euphemism, juxtaposition
Analysis-
Eric uses euphemism to describe his behaviour ‘easily turns nasty’. He underplays his violent behaviour with the adjective ‘nasty’. He can not face the truth and the audience infer that he forced Eva to have sexual intercourse with him.
The juxtaposition of ‘chap’ which has friendly and carefree connotations with the aggressive connotations of ‘nasty, ‘threatened’ and ‘row’.
Eric – “you killed her- and the child she’d have had too- my child- your own grandchild- you killed them both – damn you, damn you”
Interpretation – a vile consequence of Eva’s death is that of her unborn child. Eric explicitly describes what his parents have done to Eva and the that their lives are ‘intertwined’ with hers.
Techniques- sentence structure, repetition,
Analysis –
Repetition of ‘child’ conveys the death of innocence.
Repetition of ‘you killed’ shows that Eric blames his mother and her actions not Eva for taking her life and that of her child.
The faltering sentence structure, using hyphens, shows Eric is emotional, angry and struggling to come to terms with his family’s actions and attitudes.
Inspector – “Just used her for the end of a stupid drunken evening , as if she was an animal, a thing, not a person”
Interpretation- in his summing up speech the Inspector bluntly reminds Eric of his degrading treatment of Eva.
Techniques- tri-colon, noun
Analysis-
The tricolon starts with two nouns that totally dehumanise Eva ‘animal’ and ‘thing’ suggest that Eric saw her as something he could simply control or use not a ‘person’.
Inspector: “There are millions and millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths still left with us, with their lives, their hopes and fears, their suffering and chance of happiness”
Interpretation – the Inspector’s final speech conveys Priestley’s message about social responsibility. Eva’s story is not simply a one-off.
Techniques – polysyndeton, listing, contrast
Analysis –
the polysyndeton emphasises the scale of the issue, the use of ‘and’ makes the number of people like Eva go on and on.
The contrast of Eva and John (another common name) reminds us that this is not about gender; we have a duty to all people.
The listing of pairs “hopes and fears”, “suffering “ and “happiness” show that both negative and positive outcomes depend on society
Inspector - “We don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other”
Interpretation -Priestley’s message is clear – we are part of one society/ one world
Techniques -Pronouns, tri-colon, sentence structure
Analysis
Pronouns ‘we’ used by Inspector to show collective responsibility; contrast to Birlings ‘I’, ‘my’
Tricolon, pattern of three- emphasis, builds his point. ‘We are’ sounds like fact – no room for Birlings to argue back.
Inspector- “I tell you that the time will soon come when , if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish.”
Interpretation- The Inspector mimics Mr Birling ‘I tell you’, highlighting how foolish and inaccurate Mr Birling’s predictions are. The Inspector wisely and correctly forsees the future World Wars, Holocaust and atom bomb.
Techniques – dramatic irony, polysyndeton, tricolon
Analysis-
The dramatic irony of the Inspector’s predictions is clear to the audience of post-war Britain.
The tricolon suggests suffering will destroy the landscape ‘fire’, people and communities ‘blood’ and cause emotional pain ‘anguish’.
The polysyndeton ‘fire and blood and anguish’ lengthens the sentence to mimic the length and scale of suffering that will come.
Eric- “You’re beginning to pretend now that nothing’s really happened at all. And I can’t see it like that. This girl’s still dead, isn’t she?”
Interpretation – unlike his parents, who believe they will not get caught, Eric can not forget or accept what they did. He has learnt his lesson from the Inspector and will not return to his former ways.
Techniques – pronouns, questioning, verb
Analysis-
The divide between the generations is shown through use of pronouns ‘you’ compare with ‘I’.
The verb ‘pretends’ refers to the way the upper classes behave and highlights their hypocrisy.
Even though the Inspector has left the stage Eric continues to question and challenge his parents, who want to revert to their old ways ‘This girl’s still dead ,isn’t she?’
Birling – “ Now look at the pair of them- the famous younger generation who know it all. And they can’t even take a joke.”
Interpretation – Birling dismisses his children ad their new socialist view of the world in a sarcastic manner to reassert his authority once the Inspector has left.
Techniques – tone, noun
Analysis –
Birling’s tone is patronising ‘The pair of them’ makes Eric and Sheila sound like naughty children. He sarcastically refers to them as the ‘famous younger generation’.
The audience are aware of the irony that Birling is wrong and this prepares the audience for the final telephone call.
The noun ‘joke’ infuriates the audience as it seems Mr Birling has learnt nothing and regards the evening’s events as insignificant and laughable.
