Priestleys Message in An Inspector Calls about the Welfare State :: essays research papers

J.B Priestley is the writer of the play 'An Inspector Calls'. The play is based in the period of 1912, however, it was in the year 1946 that he decided to get his message across: The importance of the welfare state. The First World War began in 1914 and the Second World War ended in 1945. Between these years, the world changed in many ways- there was a lot of time and money being spent on people thinking up ways to kill each other. The Russian Revolution also took place. (see the novel ?Animal Farm?, by George Orwell- which is created in a similar manner to ?An Inspector Calls?) This was an area where the Royal Family was abolished. Initially, there was democracy, then communism. The play is about the death of a young woman, called Eva Smith- her demise relates to a family of the early 20th century. Through this story, Priestley finds clever ways in which to diminish his audience, although the time lapse allows them to not take it too personally. J.B Priestley feels very strongly about the Welfare state, which is why he expresses his opinions and views, in a variety of ways. One, in particular, is through the main character, Inspector Goole. The Inspector is never wrong- in any of the situations that occur throughout the play- he is always right, and makes the other characters seem almost stupid if they do not agree with him. ?Don?t start on that. I want to get on That reflects off from the writer, Priestley, as being very determined to convey his message across to his audience. Sheila Birling is another character in ?An Inspector Calls? who also points this out during the play, ?You fool- he knows. Of course he knows. And I hate to think how much he knows that we don?t know yet. You?ll see. You?ll see.? Sheila is the daughter of a very proud man, named Arthur Birling. He is very opinionated, and shown as a typical figure of the time or 1912. J.B Priestley presents him to the audience, as obdurate and biased. We can see this, when he says ?And then she got herself into trouble there, I suppose This also tells us he is very unthoughtful, and he is the sort of person who is ignorant, and wouldn?t want himself to ?go down to someone else?s level?. Priestley is attempting to convey to his audience that Mr Birling needs to change, and not only Mr Birling, but the rest of the society that is comparable to him.