Eric CRILD Poster Flashcards
‘why shouldn’t they try for higher wages? We try for the highest possible prices’
L= question. D = later I. makes him question his father’s political and economic ideologiy. Contrast comp. adj and superlative adj – makes workers requests seem reasonable and capitalist businesses seem exploitative of workers.
‘she didn’t want me to go in…I was in that state where a chap easily turns nasty’
C = Eric effectively rapes Daisy. Illustrates power of men over women and rich over poor and vulnerable. R = shocking to MC audience; makes them consider their own behaviour and attitudes to WC.
‘she treated me – as if I were a kid. Though I was nearly as old as she was’
L = noun ‘kid’. Eric less mature than Daisy. C = Daisy has had to grow up faster – less privileged WC life and no parents; had to fend for herself.
‘you’re not the kind of father a chap could go to when he’s in trouble’
Illustrates divide between father and son personally as well as ideologically. R = feel sympathy for Eric. He has no one to turn to emotionally despite his privileged life. May explain his alcoholism.
‘you killed her – and…your own grandchild’
L = emotive, accusatory language. Emphasizes impact of Mr B’s actions – by making it personal to the Birlings Priestley illustrates how an action by Mrs B that she dismisses as unimportant can have huge, tragic consequences on others. We are responsible for each other.
‘you don’t understand anything. You never did’
Mrs B does not understand her son but she also refuses to understand the Inspector’s message that she is responsible for others. R = creates sympathy for Eric. His own mother has never tried to understand him. He feels isolated and alone.
‘He was our police inspector all right’
L/I = he ‘interrogated’ them and made them confess. He was their MORAL inspector rather than a police inspector. They have all committed moral crimes against another innocent individual.
‘the girl’s dead and we all helped to kill her’
Eric understands whether or not the Inspector was a hoax is irrelevant. He does not seek to pass the blame for the girl’s death but accepts we share responsibility. R = audience feels he has atoned for his terrible treatment of Daisy by accepting it and trying to change and become a better, socially responsible person.
