Dickens a Christmas Carol and Priestley’s Essay

By bragging about his knighthood and talking about his strong capitalist views; â€Å"A man has to make his own way,† â€Å"community and all that nonsense,† Birling makes himself unpopular to the audience which is Preistley’s intension when Birling talks about the â€Å"Titanic being absolutely unsinkable,† and the fact that, â€Å"nobody wants war,† this creates dramatic irony as the audience know that the Titanic would sink on its maiden voyage, there would be two world wars, depression and strikes however, the characters don’t know this and in this case they don’t know that Birling is completely wrong in what he is saying. All of this creates a negative diction in which Priestley creates this wealthy, prosperous almost perfect family that looks splendid but is the opposite as they are ignorant and the lowest of low, especially to Priestley who strongly disagrees with their capitalist views. Birling can be compared to scrooge in â€Å"A Christmas carol,† as they both are prosperous, both don’t play a part in their community and they are both set up by Dickens and Priestly to be unsympathetic by using the same techniques like negative diction and them both being ignorant. In the opening scene we also learn about Birling’s family; his wife Sybil Birling who plays little part in the opening act, his son Eric who seems shy and close to being drunk, his â€Å"pretty† daughter Sheila who â€Å"is very pleased with life,† and her light hearted conversation shows she is youthful and enthusiastic. There is also one visitor present, Sheila’s fianci Gerald who is, â€Å"attractive,† and â€Å"the easy well-bred young man-about-town. † His father owns a large business; Crofts Limited and when making his speech, Birling says that, â€Å"we may look forward to the time when Crofts and Birlings are no longer competing but are working together,† which means that Birling being the man we now know him to be, sees his daughters engagement as a clear opportunity for a business deal. However things seem unstable between Sheila and Gerald when she mentions, â€Å"last summer,† in a â€Å"half playful, half serious,† tone. Priestly does this to show that although they look perfect, they all obviously have problems creates unease in the atmosphere and causes conflict and anxiety. The Inspectors arrival instantly adds tension as the lighting is changed on stage to be, â€Å"brighter and harder,† which signals a change of mood in the play and also seems to add menace to the Birling family. Priestley describes the Inspector to be man who; â€Å"creates at once an impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness. † This tells the audience that this character is important and the fact that he speaks, â€Å"carefully, weightily, and has a disconcerting habit of looking hard of the person he addresses before actually speaking,† also gives the impression that he knows, hopefully as well as the audience, how ignorant and wrong the family is. The inspector speaks to each of them: â€Å"gravely,† â€Å"dryly,† â€Å"slowly,† â€Å"steadily,† â€Å"plainly,† â€Å"coolly,† â€Å"with authority,† â€Å"massively,† and â€Å"sharply,† which builds up a moralising tone. From this early stage Priestley presents him as a judge and jury of the family’s wrong doings and almost a philosopher and social observer rather than a policeman. For example â€Å"it’s my duty to ask questions,† and in the case of Eva Smith, â€Å"what happened to her then may have determined what happened to her afterwards, and what happened to her afterwards may have driven her to suicide,† comments like these would be out of place being said by a police man. In â€Å"A Christmas Carol,† Dickens voiced his opinions through different characters, in â€Å"An Inspector Calls,† Priestley voices his socialist views through the Inspector when he describes Eva Smith by; using the repetition of no; â€Å"No work, no money,† listing; â€Å"few friends, lonely, half starved,† and emotive language. He also uses biblical reference similar to Dickens, â€Å"we are members of one body,† which is part of a communion prayer which means that we are all equal in the sight of God and that he sees no class barriers. Another example is, â€Å"fire and blood and anguish,† which is a biblical reference to hell and links to World War 1 which Priestley fought in. Also like Dickens he unites the speaker and the audience by using the plural, personal pronoun, â€Å"we,† which emphasises his positive views on the idea of community. The Inspector, referring to Eva Smith says, â€Å"There are a lot of young women living that sort of existence in every city and big town in the country,† â€Å"If there weren’t, the factories and warehouses wouldn’t know where to look for cheap labour,† this is a general social point Priestley is making as well as the fact that there is no clear dividing line between different elements of society, for example, Gerald says, â€Å"we’re respectable citizens not criminals! † to which the Inspector replies, â€Å"Sometimes there isn’t as much difference as you think. † This brings out Priestley’s positive views on the community, that we are all responsible for each other, that we are all part of humanity and we need to share our problems. Also like Dickens’ â€Å"A Christmas Carol,† Priestley gives the Inspector the role of mystic, all knowing power; Shelia notices this when she says to him â€Å"I don’t understand you. † This can be linked to Ouspensky’s theory that existence is a cycle of lives, which we can only escape from if we change them with the help of a gifted or extraordinary person; in this case that person is the Inspector. Through the whole play the Inspector rids the Birling family of their respectability as the audience feel, with the persuasive techniques of the Inspector, that not only are they on trial but the whole of the people in their advantaged social position for treating people like Eva Smith badly; â€Å"Public men, Mr Birling, have responsibilities as well as privileges,† the antithesis in this emphasises Priestley’s just spoken message. Before the Inspector leaves he makes a powerful, prophet like speech, which summarises the play’s philosophy; â€Å"We don’t live alone,† and â€Å"We are responsible for each other;† a biblical message, shows Priestley’s sense for community and the antithesis of â€Å"if men will not learn that lesson they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish. † represents the two World Wars to come as the play is set in 1912 and it was performed in 1945, to tell the audience that we haven’t learnt anything. The Inspectors speech is very compelling and is used to voice Priestley’s views to the audience. The repetition of â€Å"we,† is a persuasive technique that he uses as well as Dickens’ to captivate the audience and to make them realise that it also involves them. There is a huge difference in the older and younger generations of the family to the reaction of Eva smith. The eldest, for example Mr Birling is not nearly as effect by the story as Shelia who reacts emotionally. She also readily agrees that she has behaved badly and is prepared to admit her faults. She also is keen to change her behaviour; â€Å"I’ll never, never do it again. † Her brother Eric is also anxious to change his ways for the future and is deeply sorry for what he did, together they are also ashamed of their parents; Eric says to his mother, â€Å"You don’t understand anything. You never did. You never even tried. † She and her husband however are less remorseful, Birling in particular as he refuses to take any responsibility for Eva Smith’s death and seems to be more concerned about the money Eric stole from him than Eric’s treatment to Eva Smith. He is also concerned about keeping his ever so important social status when he says to his wife that, â€Å"It isn’t going to do us much good,† and, â€Å"The press might easily take it up,† this shows how ignorant he is and that he represents Priestley’s disgust of capitalist businessmen who are only interested in making money. From this it is clear that it is left up to the younger generation to learn from their mistakes and to change the future to which the Inspector adds, â€Å"They’re more impressionable. † Priestley makes crucial parts of the play more dramatic by using tension; before the Inspector arrives there is a slight unease as Sheila brought up, â€Å"last summer,† to Gerald, which tells us that something already isn’t quite right in the family, there is also irony as Gerald jokingly suggests that, â€Å"Eric has been up to something,† Eric is not amused and uncomfortable at this remark, Gerald insists it’s a â€Å"joke,† but we later find out he has been up to something. The Inspector enters straight after this and again there is more tension built up by him questioning Birling and Sheila but even more so when he begins to question Gerald who reveals that he was with Eva Smith â€Å"last summer,† the act then ends as the Inspector enters and says, â€Å"Well? † This leaves the audience in huge suspense and anticipating what will happen next. After questioning Gerald and Mrs Birling, which adds even more tension when she says that the boy who got Eva Smith pregnant should be, â€Å"compelled to confess in public,† not realising that this boy was her own son Eric, who enters after the Inspector tells her who the boy is. There is huge anxiety and stress now as the inspector has interrogated them all, he leaves with a compelling speech and after this the tension fades away as the family question the Inspectors presence. Was he an Inspector? Was Eva Smith real? They all start to relax apart from the youngest who are ashamed of their behaviour, the eldest seem to be, â€Å"amused,† and the word, â€Å"joke,† reappears, to which straight away the telephone rings, a moments silence creates worry and large amounts of anxiety build up. As Birling tells his family a police Inspector is on his way they all â€Å"stare guiltily and dumbfounded† as the curtain falls. Ending the play here would leave the play open for the audience to make their own decision on what would happen next again this would add tension. Priestley’s intention when adding tension at crucial parts in the play is to make them more memorable and for the audience to really think about the characters involved. It also highlights his message that he is trying to get across; we should all live as a community and see each other as equals. â€Å"A Christmas Carol,† and â€Å"An Inspector Calls,† are similar as they both contain the supernatural and the idea of fate. â€Å"A Christmas Carol,† involves ghosts and spirits, which give us the message that if we do not change our ways for the better we will be punished. This is also true for, â€Å"An Inspector Calls,† as it has a philosophical theme that society needs to change, however, the supernatural is only hinted at as the characters suspect that the Inspector wasn’t real and they have no proof that he was. The Inspector had a moralising almost prophet like presence similar to the spirits. Priestley’s play follows Ouspensky’s theory, as the Inspector is the extraordinary person who changes the lives of the Birling household. Even though Dickens did not know this theory it can be compared to it, as his novel is based on a very similar theme. In, â€Å"A Christmas Carol,† the gifted or extraordinary people who change lives are the spirits. Both texts also follow the concept that in our lives there are significant moments we make which can lead to disaster or salvation; in â€Å"An Inspector Calls,† the Inspector analyses these moments and tries to make the characters see where they have gone wrong. In, â€Å"A Christmas Carol,† Scrooge sees his past present and future and realises that he too has made the wrong decisions in life and plans to change them. The Characters in both stories can also be compared for their similarities; there are the villains; Scrooge and Birling, who are written to be disliked. Both are ignorant, arrogant and have no sense of community that both authors are for. They both symbolise the capitalist businessmen who turn a blind eye to everyone else. In both narratives there are also the victims of the villains behaviour and actions; Tiny Tim and Eva Smith. These characters symbolise the poor; Eva Smith represents the lives of many women of that time. We learn that even though she has been hard done to, she still has the highest morals; she didn’t accept the stolen money that Eric offered her and reclined his offer of marriage, as he didn’t love her. Preistly writes her this way to show that these women are not bad people and that they should not be judged on their social class. Tiny Tim symbolises the poor in, â€Å"A Christmas Carol,† as he creates sympathy for the reader; he is ill and still tries to enjoy life. In both texts, the victims die as part of the villain cruel and unjust behaviour. Both also have a theme of repentance; Eric and Shelia are deeply sorry and ashamed of how they behaved and plan to change their ways if possible. Marley also carries this theme of regret when he comes and warns Scrooge to alter. Each of these characters represents the authors beliefs that we should change become a stronger community and disregard each other’s differences. In both texts there are differences, the obvious being that one is a novel and one is a play. This variation effects how the messages are conveyed; â€Å"A Christmas Carol,† shows the message clearly, and goes into more detail about characters emotions. â€Å"An Inspector Calls,† illustrates the message in a less obvious way and leaves the audience thinking more about its message. The characters emotions can only really be displayed when acting which would give the audience a much clearer image. The more realistic of the two is, â€Å"An Inspector Calls,† because it contains less of the supernatural which makes it easier to believe. â€Å"A Christmas Carol,† could be called a fairytale, as the idea of ghosts and spirits is very unrealistic. Scrooge changes his attitudes through out the novel and is a totally different person from the beginning to the end. This can be said for the younger members of the Birling family; Sheila and Eric both feel wrong and guilty. They too, plan to change how they behave and act. Nevertheless, Mr Birling and Mrs Birling show no signs of changing their capitalist beliefs and they don’t plan to act any differently than before.