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Essay / Responsibility of the characters in “An Inspector Calls”
“An Inspector Calls” is a play spreading the theme of responsibility everywhere. The play is known as a morality play. It is then that the characters in the play personify a moral quality. In this case, Priestly uses his characters to illustrate the importance of being responsible. Each character shows how they handle their responsibilities. The characters in the play also reflect different people in society and how each learns to deal with their involvement in Eva Smith's death. This, moreover, is linked to the didactic message of the piece. The intentions of an educational message are to try to instruct readers about morality. Priestly attempts to teach its readers the seriousness of responsibility in our daily lives and the importance that responsibility has for us. The author believes that we are a collective and we must be able to take responsibility for each other without letting anything divide us. He tries to make it a detectable point everywhere. His socialist views are evocative and also detectable throughout the play, from the storyline to the characters. His views are further consolidated by Inspector Goole. He is seen as an outspoken socialist, who acts as a spokesperson for Priestley and the working class who have been neglected and disdained in the present day. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essayMr. Birling is arguably one of the least supportive characters in the play. His arrogance and pomposity scream louder than his words. Birling shows little or no responsibility in the entirety of the play. He rejects the idea of responsibility: “If we were all responsible for everything that happened to everyone we dealt with, it would be very embarrassing, wouldn't it? Birling calls the idea of taking ownership of one's actions "clumsy." This provides the audience with evidence showing that Birling will not pay any attention to something that he believes does not concern him, affect him or affect his reputation and here we can significantly see his selfishness. Priestley used the rhetorical question to show how Mr Birling thinks the answer is patently obvious and that taking responsibility is surely an absurd and "clumsy" idea. This represents the part of society that simply has a hard time understanding that it takes responsibility. Mr Birling's quote underlines his idea that taking responsibility is simply futile, unnecessary and would cause unnecessary tension. The majority of readers, at the time, would believe that finding something “embarrassing” is not a valid reason for not being aware of it or not being blamed. Birling's capitalist views are persistent and painfully apparent throughout the play, showing that Birling does not accept the ideas of others due to his immense ego, hubris, and ignorance. This further reinforces the public's dislike of the vain Mr. Birling, as he does not understand the idea of responsibility. Birling mentions this in Act 1. This is significant because it lets the audience know Mr. Birling's view on responsibility from the beginning of the play, which he continues until the end, showing that he has not changed and has not evolved in terms of taking responsibility.Ms. Birling shares the same principles as her husband when it comes to responsibility. Upon realizing her participation in Eva Smith's death, she has already decided that she had no responsibility for her suicide. She constantly blames the child's father. “Secondly, I blame the young man who was the father of the childthat she was going to have... If the girl's death was due to someone, then it was due to him. Again, a recurring theme among the older generations of Birlings is the inability to grasp the idea of taking responsibility. Sybil uses the conditional connector "if" "if the girl commits suicide", she is implying that no one should really be blamed, however, if we are to point the finger, it should not be towards her. Sybil continues to question her and her family's involvement in Eva's suicide by using "if". Priestly used this quote in Act 2, in the middle of the play, and began to hint at Eric's involvement, which captivates the audience and quickly raises the tension between all the characters. The irony is that she blames her son, but when she finds out, she refuses to believe it, thinking that he is not capable of it because he is her son. Tension also increases when Mrs. Birling begins to become agitated. “Mrs Birling: (rather agitated now)” these stage directions show Mrs Birling's frustration as people disagree with her point of view and tell us more about her character: someone who is cold. and cares about the approval of others. Ms Birling does not want to be associated with this scandal, as she wants the public to retain the same image of her, that of a wealthy woman and prominent member of the women's charity. Mrs. Birling's fear of public scandal leads her to completely reject the idea of taking responsibility for the death of Eva Smith and subsequently her grandchild. Sheila is initially seen as a mean-spirited, materialistic and childish young woman, but throughout her life she is seen as a mean-spirited and materialistic young woman. in the play, his character development is evident. After realizing what she did. Sheila is the first character in the play to defend Eva Smith and the working class by proclaiming "they're not cheap workers, they're people." This statement juxtaposes his father's capitalist propositions and that the working class are just workers who are not worth much time. nor money. The change can be seen when Sheila Birling, once naive, could not generate her own beliefs and concepts and followed the capitalist crowd, today has become someone who will stand up for the working class by not seeing division, whatever either social status; we are all human beings, regardless. Sheila begins to show remorse and regret as she says this quote and her socialist ideas begin to form. Priestley uses Sheila as an example that we can change and develop. He also uses Sheila to tell the audience that we can always take responsibility regardless of our prior beliefs. We can see Sheila defending what she did and beginning to accept the consequences. Priestley uses Sheila to show that change can become a reality. We should be able to construct our own sophisticated idea, but societal pressures can intimidate us into believing otherwise. Here, Sheila shows us that we all have a voice and that we must stand up for what we believe in despite what others have to say. Another character who demonstrates social responsibility in the death of Eva Smith is Eric Birling. In Act 3, Eric shows that he takes responsibility for his actions. He shows remorse and guilt when he fully understands what he has done. We see Eric take on authority when he says: “I don't see much nonsense in a girl going to kill herself. You may all be letting go nicely, but I can't. Neither does the mother. We did it well. Eric is aware that the rest of his.