Transcript An Inspector Calls

An Inspector Calls
By
JB Priestley
Connector
Complete the
old vs young
cardsort.
LO –To study the character of
Arthur Birling and compare him
to other characters in the play
Old Vs Young
• Age: The older generation
and the younger generation
take the Inspector's
message in different ways.
While Sheila and Eric
accept their part in Eva's
death and feel huge guilt
about it, their parents are
unable to admit that they
did anything wrong.
The Old (Mr and Mrs Birling)
The Young (Sheila and Eric)
The young are open to new ideas. This is first
seen early in Act 1 when both Eric and Sheila
The old are set in their ways. They are utterly
express sympathy for the strikers - an idea
confident that they are right and they see the
which horrifies Birling, who can only think of
young as foolish.
production costs and ignores the human side of
the issue.
The old will do anything to protect themselves:
The young are honest and admit their faults.
Mrs Birling lies to the Inspector when he first
Eric refuses to try to cover his part up, saying,
shows her the photograph; Mr Birling wants to
"the fact remains that I did what I did."
cover up a potential scandal.
They have never been forced to examine their
Sheila and Eric see the human side of Eva's
consciences before and find they cannot do it
story and are very troubled by their part in it.
now - as the saying goes, 'you can't teach an
They do examine their consciences.
old dog new tricks.'
Sheila and Eric have nothing to fear from the
Mr and Mrs Birling have much to fear from the
visit of the 'real' inspector because they have
visit of the 'real' inspector because they know
already admitted what they have done wrong,
they will lose everything.
and will change
Arthur Birling
• He is described at the start as a "heavy-looking, rather
portentous man in his middle fifties but rather
provincial in his speech."
• He has worked his way up in the world and is proud of
his achievements. He boasts about having been Mayor
and tries (and fails) to impress the Inspector with his
local standing and his influential friends.
• However, he is aware of people who are his social
superiors, which is why he shows off about the port to
Gerald, "it's exactly the same port your father gets."
He is proud that he is likely to be knighted, as that would
move him even higher in social circles.
He proves himself to be wrong
on many occasions.
Task
Find 3 quotes which suggest he
is misinformed.
Draw the outline of a man.
Label it as Mr Birling with
physical qualities,
aspects of his
personality, lines you
remember,
relationships etc.!
Mr B says…
• "A man has to make his own way - has to look
after himself - and his family, too, of course,
when he has one - and so long as he does that
he won't come to much harm. But the way some
of these cranks talk and write now, you'd think
everybody has to look after everybody else, as if
we were all mixed up together like bees in a hive
- community and all that nonsense. But take my
word for it, you youngsters - and I've learnt in the
good hard school of experience - that a man has
to mind his own business and look after himself
and his own..."
The Inspector…
• “There are millions and millions of Eva
Smiths and John Smiths still left with us,
with their lives, their hopes and fears, their
suffering, and chances of happiness, all
intertwined with our lives, with what we
think and what we say and do. We don't
live alone. We are members of one body.
We are responsible for each other.”
Their opinions are very different.
Who did JB Priestly side
with?
Practise Essay Question
How does JB Priestly
present the character
of Arthur Birling in An
Inspector Calls?
Review Task
Sum him up in three words.