Public image and social status Essay Example for Free

Public image and social status Essay As we can see, the two generations react differently to questioning by the Inspector. Mr. and Mrs. Birling are at first indignant and resistant to the Inspectors queries, and when they learn what is going on fully they rack their brains for a solution to the problem that has arisen, namely that the family name will be publicly disgraced and that they may lose custom at the office, resulting in a degradation of their lifestyle, public image and social status. However, Eric and Sheila show totally different reactions to Mr. and Mrs. Birling, when the Inspector questions them. Both members of the younger tell the truth to the Inspector, and both are, at one time or another, strong advocates of the truth, believing that repentance for their collective crimes is by far more important than saving face in public. Throughout the whole play, Sheila encourages the entire family to tell the truth and admit their crimes. Eric, in turn, tells the truth and advocates acceptance of the truth and repentance once the Inspector has left. The two different generation groups show different reactions to the incident, and neither can understand the mentality of the other when it comes to the way they deal with the situation after the Inspector leaves. After the Inspector leaves, the Birlings and Gerald discover that Inspector Goole was not a real Inspector at all, but a fake. Mr. and Mrs. Birling and Gerald are overjoyed when they discover that they are not in jeopardy of being linked to the untimely death of a young girl, but Eric and Sheila maintain that this turn of events changes nothing, they should be sorry for the actions they have taken and learn from the events that transpired that evening. Then, on the last page of the text and in the last few seconds of the play, there is a telephone call to tell the Birlings that a girl has just died in the infirmary and an inspector is on his way to visit them. This could lead the audience to think that perhaps the Inspector was an anthropomorphic personification of the collective consciences of the Birlings and Gerald, who was sent to the Birlings to teach them their lesson before it was too late. During this saving of the Birlings we learn that it is the younger generation who, contrary to popular belief, are accepting of their wrongdoing and prepared to change and learn from this event, whether its repercussions reached as far as degrading their lives or not. However, the older generation, who may normally be expected to act as the younger generation have, refuse to accept responsibility for their own actions and are only concerned with maintaining the lifestyle they have carved out for themselves, whether it remains spiritually and conscientiously empty or not. For a full and true understanding of An Inspector Calls, one must first have a knowledge and understanding of how the dates of the play (the date it was set, the date it was first shown, and the dates of major world events that occurred between the time of its setting and the time of its first showing) are all inextricably linked, and combine to magnify the impact of the message Priestley is trying to convey to his audience. It would be sensible to assume that the Inspector in the play represents Priestley himself, as the morals and values exhibited by the Inspector reflect Priestleys own; they both believe that all people should be treated as equals, for example. The representation of Priestleys political and philosophical opinions in the play is reinforced in the younger generation (Gerald and Sheila Birling) as they both exhibit a preference for social responsibility and care towards fellow humans. Conversely, Mr. Birling brings together all of the personality traits and attitudes that Priestley so hated and fervently campaigned against, the arrogance of those left over from the Old Edwardian era, the perception of we, the rich and they, the poor, and the unwavering confidence that this state of affairs could never change, coupled with an inability to see any possible breakdown of this system. This character profile and viewpoint is backed up by Mrs. Birling who shares Mr. Birlings views, and provides a supporting role to reinforce the contrast between the Inspector/Priestleys Socialist views and the Edwardian upper-class views of Mr. and Mrs. Birling. The diametrically opposed views and personalities of these two characters in itself would be enough to highlight just how strong Priestleys views are, but this is coupled with a superb manipulation of the timing of the plays setting and first showing. The play was written in 1944-45, first shown in Moscow in 1945 and in London in 1946, and was set in 1912. In the first act of the play, Mr. Birling makes an impassioned speech that details his political views and makes several statements in the aforementioned arrogance of his peer group; namely, that there will be no war Just because the Kaiser makes a speech or two; the Titanic is unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable; that all the fuss about the Labour party will have blown over; and that Russia . . . will always be behindhand. These statements, in the intervening years between the date of the plays setting and the date of the plays showing, prove to be wholly inaccurate. Two World Wars have broken out, both heavily involving the Germans, the Titanic has sunk after a collision with an iceberg, the Labour party has been voted in several times and will have continued success even though the war is won under a Conservative Churchill, and Russia will become a great 20th Century world power and birthplace of fabulous wealth due to its abundance of natural resources. As well as Mr. Birlings predictions for the future being dashed to pieces by world events of the next 20 years, his very philosophies on how society should operate were proven to be outdated and incompatible with modern life by the new Socialist movement. The twelve years between 1906 and 1918 proved to be the turning point that defined our current political system in this country and the advent of the nanny state. In this period the vote for parliamentary elections was rolled out to all persons aged 18 and over, education became compulsory up to the age of 12, and the Social Security system was founded, providing pensions and unemployment for people who needed them. Granted, these systems were not perfect, but this interlinked lattice of world events, the socialist movement, and the timing of the play serves to make Priestleys point just as eloquently and effectively as the play itself does.