Language changes during the play Essay

Sheila takes the inspector’s lessons to heart, and appears changed by the incident. In Act Two, Sheila sums up the whole family’s reactions to the Inspectors questions. She reminds them of the greed, jealousy and selfishness they have all shown. â€Å"It means we have no excuse now for putting on airs.† This is just the start of the speech and she admits responsibility but is very frustrated that the others don’t. She has clearly changed.  The audience will have noticed a dramatic change in her personality. She has been affected a lot by the death. She has changed from a jolly and self-centred person to a conscious and very guilty person. If any of the characters were going to change, or learn from the mistakes it would be Sheila. She shows a great deal of interest in Eva Smith/Daisy Renton’s death right from the start and throughout. She also feels a lot of guilt and is the only character that is sorry. Her maturity during the interview is much higher than any other character as she is the only one to accept responsibility. Sheila is also the only one who emphasizes her mistake by saying she was very jealous.  Sheila’s language changes during the play. She starts off speaking like a child, using words like â€Å"mummy.† She also typically squabbles with her brother. Her language begins to mature and become much more serious during the questioning and after. She begins to take control with the Inspector, trying to help them understand their part in the girls death. Priestley wants the audience, again to understand that honesty is very important. But also that everybody is responsible for each other. Society depends on responsibility for others and Sheila’s character should highlight this.  Eric is a spoilt, moody and irresponsible man. â€Å"(Sulkily) I’m all right.† Eric is sulking when he utters this line and it gives the impression that he is very young. This is because a lot of children sulk when they are unhappy and Eric is being very childish in doing this. This shows immaturity. â€Å"I don’t give a damn now whether I stay here or not.† This suggests his immaturity and selfishness. He isn’t in the best of moods after what happens and gets very moody and out of control. Eric lacks self-discipline. His immaturity during this encounter shows much more than the rest and so does his lack of self-discipline. He is old enough to know better.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"(Almost threatening her) You don’t understand anything. You never did. You never even tried – you.† This is the worst of Eric’s anger he does end up calming down. Eric is very distressed by the situation and cannot handle it. He is also very guilty and he does understand the mistake he has made. This is a rare bit of maturity from Eric. Though he is not a pleasant character, we may feel that he has learnt a lesson, that he is sincerely ashamed of his behaviour and he is capable of changing for the better. â€Å"(Unhappily) My God – I’m not likely to forget.† Eric is aware of the mistake he has made and feels a lot of shame and guilt. Like Sheila, Eric has learned his lesson and they both will learn their lesson. However, their parents don’t feels the way they do and don’t think anybody has done anything wrong, and this is what really frustrates Eric. Eric is the youngest child in the family and this is fairly noticeable because he speaks with great immaturity. He is rude and very hard to get on with. He uses demanding but very childish words, as if to draw attention. But his attitude and language change when the inspector questions him, and unlike most of the others, feels a lot of guilt, shame and wants to learn from his mistakes. Even when they find out the Inspector might have been a fake he still remained remorseful and full of pity. Priestley may have used Eric to represent the idea that nobody is perfect. Learning from mistakes will make you a much better person. Eric has done a lot of things wrong during his life, being rude and impolite to family members and also thieving and deceiving others. He has without doubt the worst history but he is mature enough to learn from this. Priestley may have also used Eric to represent the emotions that, if the audience were in a similar situation, might act like. He gets frustrated that his parents wont accept his guilt and does tend to lash out. Priestley uses the Inspector to convey his own ideas about morality to the audience. Rather than representing a real person, his character represents the abstract idea of human conscience, which ensures consideration and responsibility for others. He calls himself Inspector Goole. The word Goole has connotations of being ghostly, spiritual and non-human. Priestley could have wanted the inspector to be a kind of ghost and play on the characters conscience. We get the sense that he is some kind of supernatural force. Being called Goole gives the audience some idea he may not be real but he manages to control the situation and dominate the situation. He gets into the characters conscience and makes them reveal all. He does this by asking demanding short questions. â€Å"Well?† This question is very short but has so much power to it. He speaks as though he was a boss talking to an employer, or as if he was a teacher speaking to a student. He gets so much out of the characters by asking one-liners like this. This also shows confidence, Inspector Goole now believes he has taken control, which he Cleary has done, and starts to use these demanding questions. He is not afraid to contradict and be rude to his social superiors. â€Å"(Cutting in) Never mind about that.† The quote shows the inspector interrupting the flow of the conversation. The family would obviously not approve of ‘butting in’ as they are supposed to be such a polite and well-bred family. By inspector Goole showing no fear in doing this it shows his dominance. He sets himself up as the boss in the whole situation right from the start and this is something Mr and Mrs Birling find hard to deal with.  Priestley wants the audience to ask themselves how responsible are we for others in society? He uses five different characters with five very different reactions to the situation. Mr Birling feels he has nothing to do with the death and the girl is at fault. Mrs Birling doesn’t want anything to do with it and she doesn’t have the time. Sheila on the other hand reacts totally differently from Mr and Mrs Birling, she is very sorry for what she has done. She seems very interested in the whole situation. She shows a lot of emotion and promises she will learn from her mistakes.  Gerald makes it quite clear that he is sorry for what he had done but shows little emotion. He does remain very honest throughout. Though when he finds out the inspector was a fake he starts to show less and less guilt and much more relief. Eric is certainly the most emotional of all the characters. He is very sorry and upset by the whole situation. We can tell by his reaction that he is the youngest in the family, as he becomes very moody and frustrated, at some point he almost breaks down. Its like the whole thing is too much for him to handle. Like Sheila he definitely learns his lessen and is willing to change. Now, the audience can look at each character and think, which one am I most like? Would I feel guilty? Would I be emotional and very sorry? Would I remain very honest? These are all questions Priestley wants the audience to ask themselves. Overall, the main question is, how responsible are we for others in society?  In my opinion Priestley succeeded in getting this moral question across. He certainly encouraged me to ask myself these questions.