Discuss the role of the Inspector in the play. How effectively does Priestley present him?.
An Inspector Calls is a play with many social and political messages. J. B. Priestley believed a great deal in socialism and he used several of his plays to try and influence people to be Socialist as well. It was written in a time when Britain was ruled by a Labour government and socialist policies were seen as the way forward. It was a popular way of thinking at that time so Priestley's aim for the play was probably to teach the unconvinced. .
The Inspector in J. B. Priestley's 'An Inspector Calls' is one of the most thought-provoking and mysterious characters that modern day literature has yet produced. It is this mysterious element that contributes greatly to making him a very interesting character and one that may be perceived in many ways. The audience does not find a great deal out about the Inspector and nothing is explicitly told to us; we are given hints and clues from the way he acts and what he says and are forced to piece these together to form our own ideas about his identity and his intentions. In this way, Priestley has asked his audience to act as a judge and to reach personal conclusions about him. .
The role of the Inspector is one of many levels. In terms of how he is used in the basic structure of the play, he is there to move the play along in that he encourages the characters to tell their stories. If there was not the revelation that he was not a real Police Inspector, he would only be considered as a narrator and not play a big part in the play. Because it transpired that he was an impostor of sorts, further questions are asked by the audience and different insights have become likely and it is clear that the Inspector is in the play for many reasons. .
The play is set in the house of the Birling family. As soon as the curtains open, it is clear that the family is wealthy because there is high quality furniture and decoration in the house in which the play is set.
How do the two stories "The Red Room" and "The Signalman" build up tension and suspense. ... "The Signalman" is a short story about a man who works for the railway company. ... These are not named either which ties in with "The Signalman". ... "The Red Room" and "The Signalman" are of the same genre. ... Whereas, in "The Signalman" there is a ghost. ...
Both The Signalman' and The darkness is out there' have unexpected endings. ... Dickens' story The Signalman', has many examples of different ways of building tension. ... The signalmans appearance is quite peculiar as is his behavior. ... We end up having to choose sides between the author believing the signalman is crazy and the signalman behaving crazy. ... The one time the signalman chooses to ignore the voice was the one time he should have. ...
The Signalman by Charles Dickens (Through the eyes of the narrator) In "The Signalman," the narrator meets a signalman frightened about the apparitions he has been seen. ... The signalman wonders what the apparition means. A look into how the narrator perceives the signalman, the conflict of the story and the narrator's awareness of the meaning of the signalman's apparition will help understand "The Signalman." ... Despite the first impression the signalman left on the narrator, the narrator wanted to believe that the signalman was O.K., but the signalman kept doing odd th...
The Signalman by Charles Dickens (Through the eyes of the narrator) In "The Signalman," the narrator meets a signalman frightened about the apparitions he has been seen. ... The signalman wonders what the apparition means. A look into how the narrator perceives the signalman, the conflict of the story and the narrator's awareness of the meaning of the signalman's apparition will help understand "The Signalman." ... Despite the first impression the signalman left on the narrator, the narrator wanted to believe that the signalman was O.K., but the signalman kept doing odd th...
The Signalman by Charles Dickens (Through the eyes of the narrator) In "The Signalman," the narrator meets a signalman frightened about the apparitions he has been seen. ... The signalman wonders what the apparition means. A look into how the narrator perceives the signalman, the conflict of the story and the narrator's awareness of the meaning of the signalman's apparition will help understand "The Signalman." ... Despite the first impression the signalman left on the narrator, the narrator wanted to believe that the signalman was O.K., but the signalman kept doing odd th...
'The Signalman' features a lonely train signalman who works in signal box by a railway cutting. ... In 'The Signalman', the narrator attracts the attention of the signalman by shouting "Halloa! ... In 'The Signalman', the signalman inhabits a small, "solitary and dismal" signal box. ... Whereas, 'The Signalman' ranges over a period of only three days. ... The story is based on the signalman, but the narrator is very nearly as important as the signalman. ...
English Literature Coursework Examine the settings that the writers have chosen for their stories in "The Signalman", "The Man With The Twisted Lip" and "The Red Room". ... He tells us that he finds the signalman in "as solitary and dismal a place as I ever saw". ... At the time when Charles Dickens wrote "The Signalman" (1865) the railway was a new and dramatic invention so the setting for this story was original and exciting for his readers. ... There is a great deal of mystery surrounding the signalman. ... The Signalman is found in "the cutting that was extremely deep.... was made thro...
The signalman The characters in the signalman are also very mysterious as they are in the red room, with very little background. There are two main characters, The signalman and the narrator. The signalman is a " dark sallow man, with a dark beard and rather heavy eyebrows," this adds to the atmosphere of the story and also makes him fit in with the setting of the story. ... The signalman seems to be more lonely and dedicated to his job. ... I think this because he walks a lot, and he really wanted to help the signalman with his troubles. ...
