an inspector calls

Question 1

Mr birling

Answer 1

the titanic sails next week … unsinkable absolutely unsinkable-
you will here people say that war is inevitable.
-

Question 2

Mrs birling

Answer 2

I don’t accept any blame for it

Question 3

Sheila

Answer 3

you shouldn’t build a wall around us and the girl, because the inspector will just break it down, and when he does it will be worse

Well he inspected us alright

Question 4

Eric

Answer 4

well he’s our inspector

Question 5

Gerald

Answer 5

she said that I was the most important person in her life

Question 6

inspector googe

Answer 6

one Eva smith has gone but there are millions and millions and millions of Eva smiths and john smiths still with us
-we are all member of one body, we are responsible for each other.

Question 7

quotes linking to context

Answer 7

• “priestly, having grown up into his fathers circle of socialist friends”
• “with the outbreak of war in 1914”
• ” the effects of an individual’s actions over a passage of time”
• “a second major theme which recurs is that of responsibility.”
• “written and first performed in 1945”
• “well made play”
• “detective thriller”
• “set in an industrial city”

Question 8

stage directions

Answer 8

• the lighting should be pink and intimate until the inspector arrives, and then it should be brighter and harder.
• cutting through, massively
• we hear the sharp ring of a front door bell. birling stops to listen.

Question 9

socialist quotes

Answer 9

• we are members of one body. we are responsible for each other.
• you mustn’t try to build a wall against us and that girl, if you do the inspector will just break it down, and when he does it will be worse.
• chain of event
• yes- and then one of those cranks walk in- the inspector.

Question 10

capitalist quotes

Answer 10

• is that a man has to make his own way

* have to look after himself and his family too.

Question 11

“the lighting should be should be pink and intimate until the inspector arrives, the it should be brighter and harder”

Answer 11

interpretation:
the birling enjoy a lifestyle conducted away from the prying eyes of society. when the inspector arrives, his aim is to shine a light on their behaviour.
techniques:

‘pink’ suggest the luxurious life style of the Birlings
the inspector brings a ‘brighter’ light that foreshadowing the fact that he intends to shine a light on the way they behave.

Question 12

“I’m talking as a hard-headed, practical man of business”

Answer 12

interpretation:
birling behaves as the patriarch should so. society would expect him to be a provided of the family. he is rational and focusses on the family business and maintaining their wealth.

the alliteration of the ‘h’ sounds in ‘hard headed’ -cold tone, mimicking is coldness towards his workers.

Question 13

“everybody has to look after everybody else, as if we were all mixed up together like bees in a hive- community and all that nonsense.”

Answer 13

birling dismisses the idea of community.

simile- ‘bees’

Question 14

“but these girls aren’t cheep labour - they’re people”

Answer 14

for the first time , a birling is beginning to show an understanding or empathy for the working classes and recognises they have the rights as well.
the images of ‘these girls’ as ‘cheap labour’ makes it seem like they are machines, and simply tools for the upper class.

Question 15

“public men, Mr Birling, have responsibilities as well as privileges”

Answer 15

the core message of the play is that all people have responsibilities to one another. this is particularly important to the post- war audience.
this statement is directly addressing Mr Birling but ‘public men’ emphasises the message of the play- all men have responsibilities.

Question 16

“I tell you that the time will soon come when, if men will not learn a lesson , then they will be taught it in fire blood and anguish.”

Answer 16

the inspector mimicking birling for act 1 , by using the same phrase birling did ‘I tell you’. whilst birling looks foolish and arrogant as he is clearly wrong, the inspector is wise and correctly foresees the future- the world war.
the polysyndeton ‘fire, blood and anguish’ lengthen the scale of suffering

Question 17

“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.”

Answer 17

the inspectors final speech conveys Priestley’s message to the audience. the inspector claims Eva’s story is not simply a one-off.

Question 18

“what we think as say and do. we don’t live alone. we are members on one body. we are responsible for each other.”

Answer 18

Priestley’s massage is clear- we are all part of one world.