AIC - Conflict

Question 1

(act 1 pg 15)

Answer 1

• ‘Look – just you keep out of it’
• older generation dismisses their views, which is patronising yet ironic - the younger generation are the future.
• Birling uses direct exclamation ‘look’ to get attention and show his disappointment.

Question 2

(act 1 pg 15)

Answer 2

• ‘if you don’t come down sharply on some of these people, they’d soon be asking for the earth’
• Birlings arrogant and hubristic tone reveals the conflict between the classes which is catalysed by the upper classes wish for the rich to get richer and the poor to get poorer. This leads to their extreme prejudice towards the lower classes.
• e.g. ‘Some of these people’ generalises working class - classist.
• the preposition “down” implies being higher oneself expressing the superiority of the middle class to workers
• by the use of the demonstrative article “these” he distances himself recalling how he escaped the working class and emphasising the distance between them

Question 3

(act 2 pg 46)

Answer 3

• Priestley uses the encounter between Eva and Mrs B to represent the conflict between the lower and upper classes prevalent in society at the time.
• “Girl in her position” shows how the upper class had stereotyped the lower classes.
• The word ‘position’ implies that those who are lower class and socially disgraced are not allowed to request basic human rights. This shows the conflict between the different classes due to the stereotyping of One’s situation.

Question 4

(act 2 pg 33)

Answer 4

• ‘I don’t like your tone nor the way you’re handling this inquiry’.
• As Birling progressively loses his authority over the room to the inspector, he loses his temper and resorts to insulting the inspector’s profession. The direct statement ‘I don’t’ reveals their conflict and struggle for power.

Question 5

(act 3 pg 56)

Answer 5

• Priestley uses the battle between Birling and the Inspector as an allegory for the conflict between capitalists and socialists in the real world.
• E.g. Birling says ‘(unhappily) Look, Inspector – I’d give thousands – yes, thousands’.
• Shows that Birling still hasn’t learnt his lesson and tries to use money to buy his way out of the scandal.
• Repetition of ‘thousands’ shows his persistent greed towards money, and the misuse of power. Priestly uses the dramatic irony of the fact that Birling would pay little then but now he has to pay high price to push his socialist message.

Question 6

act 3 pg 65

Answer 6

• ‘They’re so damned exasperating.’
• The phrase ‘damned’ shows Mr Birlings lack of respect for the younger generations revealing the older generations dismissive attitude to those different or inferior to him in any way.

Question 7

essay plans

Answer 7

Conflict between generations
* (act 1 pg 15): ‘Look – just you keep out of it’

Conflict between Upper and lower classes
* (act 1 pg 15) ‘if you don’t come down sharply on some of these people, they’d soon be asking for the earth’
* (act 2 pg 46) “Girl in her position”.

Conflict between Mr Birling and Inspector
* (act 2 pg 33) ‘I don’t like your tone nor the way you’re handling this inquiry’.
* (act 3 pg 56) E.g. Birling says ‘(unhappily) Look, Inspector – I’d give thousands – yes, thousands’.

Conflict between generations
* (act 3 pg 65) ‘They’re so damned exasperating.’