Drama Forres Academy

Task: In J B Priestley’s play ‘An Inspector Calls’ Inspector

Goole states “We don’t live alone. We are members of one
body. We are responsible for each other.” How successful is
he in getting this moral message across?

“An Inspector Calls” by J.B. Priestley

‘An Inspector Calls’ written by J B Priestly is a play which

successfully conveys the message of social responsibility. It is
set in 1912 where a family named the Birlings are having a
celebration when a mysterious Inspector shows up and
interrogates the whole family about a young woman’s suicide.
At the beginning of the play the audience’s first impression
of the Birling family is that they are all very self-absorbed
people and that they only care for themselves and no one else.
Their priorities revolve around their image and their company.
Mr Birling and Mrs Birling seem to be the most arrogant of the
family for they seem to think very highly of themselves:” I
gather there is a very good chance of a knighthood – so long as
we behave ourselves.” This reinforces the thought to the
audience that the couple do think they are superior to the rest of
society.
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When the audience first meets Inspector Goole he seems to

have a very stern and tough way about him, and does not take
any nonsense as indicated in the stage directions: “He speaks
carefully, weighty, and has a disconcerting habit of looking
hard at the person he addresses before actually thinking.” The
audience gets the feeling that he does not want to be there but
since he is, he refuses to stand for any nonsense from the family.
He questions them thoroughly making them reveal their secrets,
at the same time testing the family’s strength. He makes the
family think about their actions and whether they were right or
wrong, ensuring they think more about others than themselves:
“We don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are
responsible for each other. The audience definitely see that the
Inspector wants to make a difference to others’ lives but
Priestley shows us how not all of the family embrace this idea.
Mrs Birling, when being questioned by the Inspector is
very stubborn, thinking she is right: “Simply because I have
done nothing wrong and you know it”, illustrating to the
audience that she is a condescending woman who has a heart of
stone - nobody matters to her but herself: “Unlike the other
three, I did nothing I am ashamed of” also portraying the cold
characteristics that she exudes. After the shock of finding out
that her son is the father of the dead woman’s child she finally
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begins to realize that her family is not as perfect as she first

thought: “I don’t believe it. I won’t believe it…” The audience
is now definitely aware that Mrs Birling now doubts the strength
and reputation of her family.
Shelia at first is a self-centred individual who enjoys being
in a wealthy, upper-middle class family but then, after many
confessions, she transforms into an empathetic young woman
who actually cares about the consequences of her actions. At
first Sheila seems to be very taken aback by the Inspector who
thinks she has responsibility for the woman’s suicide: “What do
you mean saying that? You talk as if we were responsible”. The
audience has a very clear feeling that Shelia does not take
responsibility for her actions, which portrays her as an uncaring
girl. As the play goes on Shelia begins to develop a conscience
and starts to understand the harm she and all of her family have
caused. But when they discover that the girl they all supposedly
helped to kill herself wasn’t real, they act as if nothing has
happened and appear to have reverted to how they acted before
the event. As a result Sheila comes to the realization that what
they did could have ended with serious results: “you’re
forgetting one thing I still can’t forget. If everything we said
had happened really had happened. If it didn’t end tragically,
then that is lucky for us. But, it might have done”. The audience
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clearly see that the Inspector has taught Sheila a lesson that they
all have to think of the consequences of their own actions and
take responsibility for them.
At the end of the play Sheila has changed drastically but
her Mother, Mrs Birling, has remained a snooty proud woman:
“They’re over tired. In the morning they’ll be as amused as we
are.” The audience see that Mrs Birling is too narrow-minded
to see anything but what she thinks is right whereas Sheila is the
absolute reverse. Sheila sees that she is so important anymore,
she beings to feel other people’s feelings: “But these girls
aren’t just cheap labour – they’re people”. The Inspector has
managed to convey the message of social responsibility to
Sheila and the audience can see how Sheila’s personality has
changed throughout the play and that hopefully her change has
made her a better person, unlike her parents
Overall the message of social responsibility is cleverly
conveyed to the audience. It makes people think about what
effect they can have on one person and no matter how small it
can change their life so there is no doubt that Priestley succeeds
in his aim to make us all aware of our role in society and our
responsibilities to each other.
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