INSPECTOR CALLS EXAM IN 2 DAY- tips and feedback on 40 markers and the essay too?

Can someone tell me how to improve this essay. Its from the eduqas english lit board but any tips would really help as my exam's literally on Monday. Also, if i feel I'm running out of time in the exam do I finish my last paragraph or jump straight to the conclusion. Thanks :smile:

How is Arthur Birling presented at different points in the play? (Make reference to extract, which was after they find out the Inspector was a hoax, and the whole play in your answer.)

In an Inspector calls, Birling is presented as an ignorant, selfish man who cannot accept responsibility for his actions and is used as a construct by Priestley for Capitalism ideas through the use of tone, language and choice of words made by Birling.

Birling in this extract is presented as a bad father figure towards his children. Through the lines, ‘the famous younger generation who know it all’, it can clearly be seen that Birling’s smug attitude shows how he feels superior to his children and feels no shame in mocking them or belittling them for listening to the Inspector’s words, completely dismissing the fact that they are both adults and shouldn’t have to be treated with so much disregard. This demonstrates his patronising figure to not just Sheila and Eric, but to all of the younger generation, and this immature behaviour of his makes it understandable to the audience as to why it would be hard to deal or talk truthfully with such a father.

This is further backed up with evidence in the same act where Eric says to his father that he’s ‘not the kind of father a chap could go to when he’s in trouble’, indicating that despite having earned many titles and gains in social status, Arthur Birling fails in one role: to act as a proper father to Eric (as well as Sheila), perhaps suggesting a reason why Eric has a drinking addiction, or why Arthur cannot realise why his children are willing to take responsibility for their actions. This also repeats a link to the theme of the young generation vs old generation through the word “chap” said by Eric. Mr Birling’s stubbornness and immoral traits, as well as wondering why his children aren’t like him, lead him to act as a patronising figure to both of them and this explains why he is portrayed as a bad father figure in An Inspector Calls.

Another way Birling is represented in the play is ignorant and unaware. “We’ve been had, that’s all.” from the extract conveys Mr Birling’s disregard for the whole situation after finding out the inspector wasn’t real and that he wouldn’t get in trouble for his actions, which he struggles to accept responsibility for anyway. The length of the sentence implies Birling is being dismissive of all the circumstances and doesn’t bother to care much now but he realises it doesn’t affect him directly, doing this with ease and being completely ignorant of the situation. The shortness contrasts with his usual verbose words that he says about generic things with such passion. This demonstrates how selfish he acts, even though he now knows the effect of his and his family’s actions on Eva Smith, that he is willing to move swiftly on from the situation, and put the blame on somebody else, whether it is true or not.

In addition, the same trait of ignorance is shown in Act One, through the phrase “unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable” which is describing Birling certain thoughts on the Titanic that I’ve just set off in April 1912. The word “absolutely” describes how definite and positive Birling feels about the ship, which is highly likely due to the fact that it was a rich, expensive and luxury ship. However dramatic irony is seen here as a 1946 or later audience would know that the ship did sink just a few days later after its departure, proving Birling’s declaration very wrong and also perhaps foreshadowing how he may be wrong about other things such as the inspector, especially where the realisation that all these events did actually occur, and inspector is real can be seen. Birling’s misplaced confidence is evident throughout the whole play but also easily lessens and is damaged through each act as his character becomes more and more insecure; all of this is due to the reason of his ignorance and failure to see the truth or find some common sense and ground with things in the play.

Finally, Birling is presented as a very selfish man with a capitalist approach to everything in “an inspector calls”. In Act One, he declares to the inspector that it is “his duty to keep labour costs down”, highlighting his capitalist mindset in the sense that he exploits his workers in dangerous and ill conditions, using and treating them as commodities, just to benefit from the profit their work gives him. The word “duty” signifies that he feels he’s doing an honourable thing for other factory workers and himself by using the women of lower class, creating confusion as to why he’d treat them this way despite previously being of a lower-class origins himself (“rather provincial in his speech”).

Another selfish thing Birling does can be seen throughout most of the play where he says that even though Gerald had an affair with Eva/Daisy, Sheila should excuse her fiancé’s behaviour and continue with the engagement. The reason for this is clear in Act two, where Birling says to Sheila about Gerald that he’s not “defending him”, but she “must understand that-” which indicates that he is making excuses for not just Gerald but a man’s behaviour despite being caught in the act of infidelity with another woman, evidently demonstrating Birling’s clear motives and ideas: this is backed up with further evidence in act 31 Burling says to Sheila to take Gerald’s ring back and then she’ll “feel better”. He is willing to use Sheila, his own daughter, as a commodity as well as his workers to benefit economically from her marriage to Gerald. This behaviour clearly demonstrates Mr Birling’s superficial attitudes in relation to the idea of money as well as his patriarchal views on women at that time, most likely thinking they should dismiss a man’s behaviour no matter how unfair or unfaithful it is, and it is this same attitude of Birling is that cause him to be perceived as a selfish man in the play.

In conclusion, Arthur Birling is presented in an inspector calls as a figure of capitalism in the early 20th century, as well as an individual who behaves pompously, superficially and ignorantly to those around him. Although he’s offered the chance to take responsibility a part in the play, he denies these opportunities and remains a man with no significant change to show.

Thnaks again!

Reply 1

RemoveQwerty

Hi! I do AQA, so I can’t help with the content unfortunately. However, I would advise to keep your eye on the capitalisation of certain things. The two main issues I often see are not capitalising all words of the title and the “the” in The Inspector. So, make sure to always write “The Inspector” with a capitalised “the” and “An Inspector Calls” with all beginning letters of the words capitalised. I apologise for not being able to help with the content, but stuff like this can bag you SPaG marks! I wish you the greatest of luck in your exams! :smile:

Reply 2

lilymodern-mood

Original post by RemoveQwerty

Thank you anyway! I wrote this on paper at first and then voice dictated it out onto my mac instead of typing it which is why some things aren't capitalised, but I'll make note of The Inspector. :smile:

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Articles for you

Best video resources for revising GCSE or A-level English

Try out the app

Continue on web