An Inspector Calls: GCSE Quote Bank
Characters and Themes
Character: The Inspector
Quote Analysis
“Speaks carefully, weightily” 1. The use of the adjective ‘weightily’ evidences the impact of the Inspector’s moral
message.
2. Speaking ‘carefully’ directly contrasts Birling, whose speech is diluted with dashes and
hesitations.
3. Priestley uses the adverb ‘carefully’ to highlight how he’s cautious about the way he
conducts himself and the audience.
“If you’re easy with me, I’m 1. Priestley’s use of parallelism (same grammatical features of a sentence repeated) in this
easy with you” phrase is, perhaps, symbolic for the Inspector’s message.
2. This sense of equality and treating others how you wish to be treated is inherently
socialist.
“Yes, but you can’t. It’s too 1. Here, Priestley uses short sentences and a terse triplet of expressions to convey an
late. She’s dead” impactful message and express the need for radical change. The use of short sentences
makes the statement harder, with more pauses for emphasis.
2. The adverb ‘harshly’ shows he doesn’t care about their feelings.
3. The direct address and imperative ‘you can’t’ is used to evoke regret and make them feel
personally attached.
4. The simple statement of ‘she’s dead’ carried a lot of power.
“Their lives, their hopes and 1. Priestley continues to spread the message of socialism and the need for greater social
fears, their suffering and responsibility as everybody’s lives are ‘intertwined’. Priestley is reinforcing his socialist
chance of happiness all message that our actions affect others whether positively or negatively.
intertwined with our lives” 2. The use of emotive language helps us to empathise with the victims like Eva Smith.
Priestley uses a list of elements of people’s lives to show how deeply and widely they
can be affected.
3. The phrase ‘all intertwined with our lives’ building to the climax of ‘what we think and
say and do’ makes the audience feel directly spoken to.
“We are members of one 1. Priestley alludes to the Book of Genesis as ‘we are members of one body is used in Holy
body” Communion.
2. Therefore, through echoing the words of God, Priestley implies that the Inspector is
speaking on God’s behalf.
“Each of you helped to kill 1. Despite none of the characters directly ending Eva’s life, they have all had a part of play
her, remember that. Never in her death and are therefore responsible for driving her to suicide.
forget it” 2. The emotive language emphasises the effect of each characters’ behaviour, and the two
short imperative sentences focus on the necessity of accepting guilt.
“A plain darkish suit” 1. Priestley presents the Inspector as wearing simple and minimal clothes in a ‘plain
darkish suit’, as appearance is irrelevant to him. It is moral and social responsibility
which is of greater importance.
2. The adjective ‘darkish’ shows imagery of something ominous and sinister, perhaps
foreshadowing how he will inaugurate gloom and misery into the family and post-war
audience in reality of some ‘darker’ aspects of Edwardian society – growing division or
proletarians and bourgeois, and the deep-rooted patriarchal society where rich avarice
men use and abuse women due to authority and status.
3. It could be interpreted as that Priestley’s motive was to dress the Inspector plainly to
divert any outward appearance and have to audience to focus on the intended basis of the
Inspector, his dialect, and the messages of social responsibility. The audience are unable
to identify him as an affluent or working-class individual.
“If men will not learn that 1. Therefore, the threat of ‘fire and blood and anguish could be the Inspector warning both
lesson, then they will be the characters and the audience of the religious consequences and the audience of the
taught it in fire and blood and religious consequences for neglecting their duty of social responsibility.
anguish” 2. The religious connotation of ‘fire’ is hell and therefore the punishment for not following
the message of both Christianity and socialism to ‘love thy neighbour’.
, Character: Mr Birling
Quotes Analysis
“If you don’t come down 1. The hyperbole of ‘asking for the earth’ is an attempt by Birling to explain his rejection of
sharply on some of these Eva’s Smith pay rise. However, the absurdity of people ‘asking for the earth’ reflects the
people, they’d soon be asking absurdity of Birling’s refusal to pay a decent wage.
for the earth” 2. The noun phrase of ‘these people’ shows he sees himself differently to the working class.
3. The adverb ‘sharply’ implies that he thinks that the working class should be punished.
4. It becomes even clearer that Birling believes that its his personal obligation to put the
lower classes in their place.
“now look at the pair of them 1. The use of the noun ‘joke’ is significant as it is ironic. It occurs just before the phone
– the famous younger rings and a ‘real’ inspector calls on the telephone.
generation who know it all. 2. Also, trivialising Eva Smith’s suffering as a ‘joke’ emphasises the static character of
And they can’t even take a Birling.
joke”
“As it happened more than 1. The adverb ‘obviously’ is used to emphasise Birling’s arrogance and disregard for his
eighteen months ago – nearly own social responsibility. Priestley does this to continue Birling’s unlikeable image.
two years ago – obviously it 2. The adjective ‘wretched’ displays Birling’s disdain for Eva.
has nothing to do with the 3. The ‘girl’ shows that Birling views her as unimportant or unsignificant to not even
wretched girl’s suicide.” bother to use her actual name.
“If we were all responsible 1. Birling won’t give into the Inspector’s ideas of social responsibility and feels that his
for everything that happened actions didn’t in any way contribute to Eva Smith’s death. Birling is complacent and has
to everybody … it would be an upper-class arrogance.
very awkward, wouldn’t it?” 2. Priestley’s use of the adjective ‘awkward’, coupled with Mr Birling’s self-absorbed
character reveals that an increased sense of responsibility for everyone would only be
‘awkward’ for him. This awkwardness extends to the class and ideology that he
represents: capitalist middle-class.
“There’s every excuse for 1. Mr Birling separates himself and Mrs Birling, as the older generation, from Eric and
what both your mother and I Sheila in the younger generation. This diversion of blame onto his children reveals the
did – it turned out selfish core of Birling and inability to develop a sense of social responsibility.
unfortunately, that’s all,” 2. The noun ‘excuse’ connotes a pathetic, worthless reason, suggesting Birling is desperate
to excuse himself of blame.
3. The words ‘unfortunately’ and ‘that’s all’ convey his heartlessness, suggesting the upper
classes trivialised and dismissed the lower classes’ hardships. Eva’s death is merely an
unforeseen tragedy, an inconvenience, and not worthy enough to make Birling accept
social responsibility.
“It’s one of the happiest night 1. The selfish nature of Mr Birling is revealed using personal pronoun ‘me’ and ‘my life’.
my life … your engagement to The emphasis on Birling’s own life is due to his own reputation and social status
Sheila means a tremendous increasing after Sheila’s engagement to Gerald. It matters not whether Sheila and Gerald
lot to me” are happily married. This quote clearly displays the inequality between men and women.
2. Birling and Gerald are using Sheila to make himself look better, wealthier, and more
important.
3. Priestley wants to make the audience aware of this unfair treatment towards women but
also how selfish capitalism was, as men were more bothered about how they looked to
one another rather than marrying a woman because they loved them.
“You! You don’t seem to care 1. Priestley uses the short sentence ‘I care’ to create a potential turning point, where Birling
about anything. But I care. I finally accepts his moral and social responsibility. However, what follows is anti-climax
was almost certain for a as Birling’s static nature as a character is reaffirmed. What Mr Birling only cares about
Knighthood in the next is his social position, not the wellbeing of Eva Smith and other employees.
honours list.” 2. The personal pronouns of ‘you’ and ‘I’ separates Eric’s ideas from his own: Eric wants
his family to take responsibility, but Birling is desperate for a knighthood and upholding
the family’s reputation, crack in the family façade. This is ironic because he repeats that
Eric doesn’t care about anything, but he is the one that doesn’t care about anything but
himself.
“You’ll hear some people say 1. The use of the noun ‘fiddlesticks’, alongside Priestley’s use of dramatic irony causes
that war is inevitable. And to Birling to seem overwhelmingly confident in his arrogance.
that I say – fiddlesticks!” 2. Birling’s complacency is highlighter with his foolish and short-sighted predictions
regarding how major is going to happen in the next few years.
3. This play is set in 1912, so the audience will be familiar of the events that will follow:
WWI, Russian Revolution, Titanic, etc.
