Name: Dania Hassan

Date of birth: 10th October 2004

Candidate number:

Explore the ways in which Priestley presents generational differences

in ‘An Inspector Calls’.
Society seems to change every few decades, changes usually brought about by the younger
generation, much to the dismay of the older generation who like it as it used to be. In ‘An
Inspector Calls’ this stark dichotomy is seen between the two generations, the one of the parents;
Mr. and Mrs. Birling and the one of their children; Eric and Sheila. The parents are more stuck in
their ways while the children are more impressionable and open to change. This essay would
discuss the morality of both sides; are the younger generation too arrogant and zealous or is it the
older generation that glorify tradition too much? Priestley sets the play in 1912 for his 1945
audience to relate to Eric and Sheila and perhaps see themselves as the siblings and reflect on the
changes that have taken place over the years.
Right after the family find out about the inspector being a fake, Mr. Birling mocks his children
for being upset about how his family wronged Eva Smith. This shows his ignorance and how
unaware he is of himself. Thus, showing the partial ignorance of the older generation. He says,
“The famous younger generation, who know it all, and they can’t even take a joke.”. He calls his
children ‘famous’ which is a sarcastic comment suggesting that they think that they are better
than everyone, since fame is associated with arrogance. This is ironic since it is him and his wife
that strongly uphold the class system which inherently means that the upper class are ‘better’
than the lower classes. He subsequently mentions that they ‘know it all’, which is again sarcasm
to mock them and suggest they know nothing at all. This is again ironic because it is obvious to
the audience that Eric and Sheila know more about what’s happening. He then emphasizes that
they ‘can’t even take a joke’. His use of ‘can’t even’ suggests that they are unable to even do the
bare minimum, the bare minimum apparently being treating the ruined life of Eva Smith as a
‘joke’. Him calling all that transpired as a ‘joke’ shows that he learned nothing at all and how
unaware he is of himself.
When Eric started to lose his temper and threatens his mother, Mr. Birling seems scared of Eric
which can be seen when he says, “Why, you hysterical young fool - get back - or I’ll---”. This
shows the fear that the older generation have of change which is embodied in the youth. Mr.
Birling calls Eric a ‘hysterical young fool’ the use of the word ‘young’ grouped with ‘hysterical’
and ‘fool’ suggests that being young also comes with being hysterical and foolish. This shows
the older generation trying to downplay the potential of the youth by insulting them. He tells his
son to ‘get back’ suggesting that he is scared of Eric and that he can’t calm down his own son
and has to tell him to retreat. He tells Eric, “get back – or I’ll---” the pause indicates a threat of
physical violence. His violent threat is ironic because he accuses Eric of heresy while he himself
has lost control of himself by resorting to physical violence. Him turning to physical violence is
symbolic of how the old has lost control of the young and must use aggression to retaliate.
It is clear that the young generation are more open to take responsibility of their actions, this is
seen when Eric is at his breaking point and tells his mother, “my child, your own grandchild –
you killed them both – damn you, damn you---” his words ‘my child’ and using the possessive
pronoun ‘my’ implies that Eric felt possessive of this unborn child showing his responsibility. He
Name: Dania Hassan
Date of birth: 10th October 2004
Candidate number:

calls the unborn infant his ‘child’ which further shows his claim of responsibility since he
regarded it as a living breathing child. He then gives the responsibility of Eva’s and her unborn
child’s death to his mother by using the possessive pronoun ‘your’ and ‘you’ and he says ‘damn
you’. Eric’s use of direct address and profane language shows that he is truly at his snapping
point and has had enough of his mother denying responsibility. His repetition of ‘you’ and ‘your’
further emphasizes the responsibility of his mother in the situation and how he is fed up with his
mother. His use of a harsh word such as ‘killed’ in the same sentence as a word having a
connotation of naivety and purity such as ‘child’ is a juxtaposition that denotes the death of
innocence.
The older generation is shown to be obsessed with appearance and tradition, which is shown
when Sheila calls Eric ‘squiffy’ and her mother retorts, ‘the things you girls pick up these days’.
Sheila’s use of slang shows her openness to change while her mother’s disapproval shows her
traditionalism and fear of compromising her image. Mrs. Birling patronizes Sheila and refers to
her as ‘you girls’ even though Sheila is a woman. She reduces Sheila to a child for simply using
some slang, showing her distaste for change and she says ‘these days’, ‘these’ suggesting that
she feels that she is above it and that is far from her. This presents the older generations
preference for the past and tradition.
The younger generation reaches a point where they break free from their parent’s thoughts and
conjecture and start to form their own opinions and viewpoints that could conflict with their
parents’. Sheila does this when she says ‘Impertinent is such a silly word’ because her mother
continuously uses the word ‘impertinent’ to refer to Eva, when Sheila says this, she completely
discredits her mother. Sheila also contradicts herself resulting in irony because she also used the
word earlier on in the play. Her self-contradiction shows her coming-of-age and truly growing
up.
Finally, it is no wonder that there are stark differences between the older generation and the
younger generation. The older generation tries to maintain an image of sophistication and
adheres to tradition strictly, whereas the younger generation are rough around the edges but are
more sincere and open to change and taking responsibility for their actions. Priestly artfully
established the younger generation’s parroting their parents to developing and becoming their
own persons. This gives the audience comfort that people are eager to change to make the world
a fairer and better place to live.