Whos Responsible for the Death of Eva Smith? :: An Inspector Calls J.B. Priestly Essays

Who's Responsible for the Death of Eva Smith? 'An Inspector Calls' is a play written by J.B. Priestly. Although the play was set in 1912, it was actually written in 1947. It was written after the events that were mentioned in the play, like the First World War and the sinking of the 'Titanic'. It is thought that J. B. Priestly's experience in World War One inspired him to write a story about how cruelly humans treat each other. In the 1910's there was a lot of cruelty and discrimination because of the different classes. The upper classes were cruel to the lower class because they were poorer and worked for the upper classes. Priestly wrote the play to make people aware of the social differences and how nasty people treat each other. If the upper classes were less pompous and treated the lower classes the same as everybody else, the country's wealth would be more evenly spread so there wouldn't be as much discrimination. 'An Inspector Calls' is a play which forces the audience to realise that every judgement made, every action taken, has an effect on another person. Priestly was well known for his involvement in human rights issues. He became known as 'The voice of the common people' The play 'An Inspector Calls' was written to show an audience about human cruelty. The inspector was there to show the family how nasty they are and he is trying to make them think about what they have done to make Eva kill herself. The inspector may have represented J.B. Priestly and he used the family to show the audience how he feels about the cruelty that goes on. The Inspector could have been a spirit, the name sounds like ghoul - Goole. He could have been representing the ghost of Eva Smith and he was trying to show the family how much they made Eva suffer. This can be shown by what the inspector said: "A pretty, lively sort of girl who never did anybody any harm. But she died in misery and agony-hating life-" and "She was here alone, friendless, almost penniless, desperate. She needed not only money but advice, sympathy, friendliness." The inspector may have represented the voice of conscience. Priestly based the inspector on his views of every day society. The inspector was annoyed with the upper classes because of the way they treated the lower classes. That might be the way Priestly thought and he was trying to get his points of view noticed by putting them into a play where many people would take notice. Priestly was also trying to say that society as a whole is responsible for tragedies, no one person