[star10159]

his, Can You please grade my GCSE Inspector Calls essay... Its out of 20 marks. Exam board: WJEC, Level: GCSE

To What Extent do the characters in the play understand the moral of what has happened?



The moral of “An inspector calls” was to take responsibility for your actions and to learn from your past mistakes. This moral played an integral role in the play as the whole plot revolved around it. While some characters understood the moral fairly well, others remained oblivious to it or simply rejected it.

Firstly, the character that fully understood the moral of the play was Shelia Berling, the daughter of Mr Berling. Although initially hesitant, She finally admitted to her crime of canning Eva Smith from her job out of mere personal jealousy as stated, “He (the inspector) made us confess”. The fact that she admitted her crime thus taking “responsibility for her actions” shows that she fully understood the moral of the play. Also, She reflected on it saying, ”I’m ashamed of it”. This demonstrates her ability to accept her part on the woman’s death and shows how she has emotions for Eva smith hence treating her like a normal human being unlike Mr Berling who considered her as “cheap labour”.

Furthermore, Eric Berling also understood the moral of the play to a significant extent. While Gerald questioned the Inspector’s true identity Eric clearly said,” Whoever the chap was, the fact remains, I did what I did…. and you all did what you did”. As evident, Eric clearly accepts responsibility for his actions and persuades others to do so as well. Moreover, the very notion of Eric understanding the moral of the story leads him to not question the Inspector’s identity.

Additionally, Mr, Berling never truly understood or perhaps even rejected the moral of the story. Earlier on, he clearly stated, ”A man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own”. This completely goes against the moral of the story as it suggests than one should not even care about others let alone take responsibility for harm cause to them. Further, upon the Inspectors departure, Mr Berling cares more about the Inspectors identity due to the fact that his knighthood depends on it, as stated “I’ll get my knighthood….if we don’t get into any trouble with the police”, than the death of a poor girl. This again highlights his egocentric selfish ways and gives capitalism, a way of life in which one only cares about ones self, a negative image. I think Priestly intentionally created this negative image to persuade people to be more socialist which in turn leads them to take responsibility for their actions hence the moral of the play.

In essence, the new generation of characters understood the moral better than the older generation ones, which suggests that Priestly believes that there is hope in the newer generation.

[Ketchup!]

Remember to spell Birling right!

[star10159]

(Original post by Ketchup!)
Remember to spell Birling right!

Haha ya, I didn't release that. Any grade predictions on that?

[fimblesocks]

Don't call it canning - I am guessing you do Of Mice and Men too?

[fimblesocks]

Also, it's a wee bit stunted and from experience with Inspector Calls you could probably have chosen better quotes that SHOW denying/acceptance - However for G.C.S.E this should be okay. Why not give it to your teacher?

[Pankeu]

(Original post by star10159)
his, Can You please grade my GCSE Inspector Calls essay... Its out of 20 marks. Exam board: WJEC, Level: GCSE

To what extent do the characters in the play understand the moral of what has happened?


The moral of “An Inspector Calls” was to take responsibility for your actions and to learn from your past mistakes. This moral played an integral role in the play as the whole plot revolved around it. While some characters understood the moral fairly well, others remained oblivious to it or simply rejected it.

Firstly, the character that fully understood the moral of the play was Shelia Berling, the daughter of Mr Berling. Although initially hesitant, She finally admitted to her crime of canning Eva Smith from her job out of mere personal jealousy as stated, “He (the inspector) made us confess”. The fact that she admitted her crime thus taking “responsibility for her actions” shows that she fully understood the moral of the play. Also, She reflected on it saying, ”I’m ashamed of it”. This demonstrates her ability to accept her part on the woman’s death and shows how she has emotions for Eva smith hence treating her like a normal human being unlike Mr Berling who considered her as “cheap labour”.

Furthermore, Eric Berling also understood the moral of the play to a significant extent. While Gerald questioned the Inspector’s true identity Eric clearly said,” Whoever the chap was, the fact remains, I did what I did…. and you all did what you did”. As evident, Eric clearly accepts responsibility for his actions and persuades others to do so as well. Moreover, the very notion of Eric understanding the moral of the story leads him to not question the Inspector’s identity.

Additionally, Mr, Berling never truly understood or perhaps even rejected the moral of the story. Earlier on, he clearly stated, ”A man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own”. This completely goes against the moral of the story as it suggests than one should not even care about others let alone take responsibility for harm cause to them. Further, upon the Inspectors departure, Mr Berling cares more about the Inspectors identity due to the fact that his knighthood depends on it, as stated “I’ll get my knighthood….if we don’t get into any trouble with the police”, than the death of a poor girl. This again highlights his egocentric selfish ways and gives capitalism, a way of life in which one only cares about ones self, a negative image. I think Priestly intentionally created this negative image to persuade people to be more socialist which in turn leads them to take responsibility for their actions hence the moral of the play.

In essence, the new generation of characters understood the moral better than the older generation ones, which suggests that Priestly believes that there is hope in the newer generation.

I think the introduction needs to be a bit clearer; it sounds a bit basic and awkward, I see that you're trying to address the question head on, but try to use a quote to back up the point you're making, as you would in PEE, for example:

In 'An Inspector Calls', the writer portrayed the message of personal responsibility and did this using [insert a literary technique and then a quote to back it up, for example, metaphors and whatever you think is relevant.]

Good luck!

[star10159]

(Original post by fimblesocks)
Don't call it canning - I am guessing you do Of Mice and Men too?

I did do Mice and Men, yes. Thank goodness that's over with. Got an A on that