The Inspector - the inspector calls Flashcards
“It’s better to ask for the earth than to take it”
The Insp’s lesson to Mr B is that at least Eva Smith only asked for a rise. Mr B just takes all of his money without asking anyone.
“Sometimes, there isn’t as much difference as you think … I wouldn’t know where to draw the line”
Gerald points out that they are respectable citizens, not criminals. Insp says …. Insp suggests that even though no legal crime has been committed, they are guilty of a moral crime.
“You were annoyed with yourself and passed the annoyance onto her”
The Insp knows why Sheila did what she did to Eva Smith.
“She wanted to keep this youngster out of any more trouble – isn’t that so?”
Eva Smith wouldn’t accept any more money from Eric because she thought he’d get into trouble for it. Eva is morally superior to her superiors – irony.
“You’re offering the money at the wrong time, Mr Birling.”
The Insp offers moral, not legal lessons. Mr Birling appears not to know the difference.
“One Eva Smith has gone… but there are millions… of Eva Smiths… all intertwined with our lives… if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish.”
The message Priestley wanted to put across when he wrote the play
“a hard headed practical man of business”
He thinks of himself as someone who works hard and uses his time practically
