Act three key quotes
Inspector Goole
● ‘One Eva Smith has gone – but there are millions and millions
and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths still left with us… We
don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are
responsible for one another’.
- Priestley uses Inspector Goole as the socialist conscience
(sense of wrong and right) in the play.
- Here, he expresses how people should look after one another,
and suggests that everyone is equally as important as everyone
else.
- This statement directly contrasts with Mr Birlings comment in
Act 1 that everyone should look after themselves.
● ‘There’ll be plenty of time, when I’ve gone, for you all to adjust
your family relationships’.
- Inspector Goole recognises that his interrogations have
changed the dynamics (how they get along) of the Birling family.
- He tells them that they will have to change their relationships as
they get to know one another again.
- Sheila, for example, has developed a very different (less
subservient) attitude towards her father – they will all need time
to figure out how their family works once they show each other
their true selves.
● ‘Each of you helped to kill her. Remember that. Never forget it’
- Inspector Goole speaks very plainly to the family – he does not
soften the blow for them. He wants them to have learnt
something from this experience, so he tells them that each one
of them killed Eva.
- He urges them to always remember what they have done –
because he wants them to rethink their actions in the future to
make sure they start to think about other people and how their
words and activities can hurt others.
, ● ‘One Eva Smith has gone – but there are millions and millions and
millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths still left with us… We are
responsible for one another’
- Priestly uses inspector Goole as the socialist conscience in the
play.
- He expresses how people should look after one another and
suggests that everyone is equally as important as everyone
else.
- This statement directly contrasts with Mr Birling’s comment in
Act 1 that everyone should look after themselves.
Sheila
● ‘You don’t seem to have learnt anything’
- Although she’s heard about the horrible consequences of their
actions, Sheila is annoyed that Mr and Mrs Birling do not seem
to have learnt anything about themselves and how they should
live their lives.
- They continue to dodge any responsibility for Eva’s death and
push the blame at each other.
● ‘Everything we said had happened really happened…’
- ‘Everything we said had happened really happened. If it didn’t
end tragically, then that’s lucky for us. But it might have done’.
- Sheila’s emotional maturity and intelligence develops.
- Here, Sheila shows how she has learnt a valuable lesson from
this whole experience – she accepts blame and responsibility.
She knows that her actions will have consequences for other
people – the story of Eva Smith has made this much more
realistic for her.
- Mr Birling exclaims that young people think they know
everything but they’re wrong – ironically, it is the young Birlings
who have learnt from their mistakes here.
Inspector Goole
● ‘One Eva Smith has gone – but there are millions and millions
and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths still left with us… We
don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are
responsible for one another’.
- Priestley uses Inspector Goole as the socialist conscience
(sense of wrong and right) in the play.
- Here, he expresses how people should look after one another,
and suggests that everyone is equally as important as everyone
else.
- This statement directly contrasts with Mr Birlings comment in
Act 1 that everyone should look after themselves.
● ‘There’ll be plenty of time, when I’ve gone, for you all to adjust
your family relationships’.
- Inspector Goole recognises that his interrogations have
changed the dynamics (how they get along) of the Birling family.
- He tells them that they will have to change their relationships as
they get to know one another again.
- Sheila, for example, has developed a very different (less
subservient) attitude towards her father – they will all need time
to figure out how their family works once they show each other
their true selves.
● ‘Each of you helped to kill her. Remember that. Never forget it’
- Inspector Goole speaks very plainly to the family – he does not
soften the blow for them. He wants them to have learnt
something from this experience, so he tells them that each one
of them killed Eva.
- He urges them to always remember what they have done –
because he wants them to rethink their actions in the future to
make sure they start to think about other people and how their
words and activities can hurt others.
, ● ‘One Eva Smith has gone – but there are millions and millions and
millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths still left with us… We are
responsible for one another’
- Priestly uses inspector Goole as the socialist conscience in the
play.
- He expresses how people should look after one another and
suggests that everyone is equally as important as everyone
else.
- This statement directly contrasts with Mr Birling’s comment in
Act 1 that everyone should look after themselves.
Sheila
● ‘You don’t seem to have learnt anything’
- Although she’s heard about the horrible consequences of their
actions, Sheila is annoyed that Mr and Mrs Birling do not seem
to have learnt anything about themselves and how they should
live their lives.
- They continue to dodge any responsibility for Eva’s death and
push the blame at each other.
● ‘Everything we said had happened really happened…’
- ‘Everything we said had happened really happened. If it didn’t
end tragically, then that’s lucky for us. But it might have done’.
- Sheila’s emotional maturity and intelligence develops.
- Here, Sheila shows how she has learnt a valuable lesson from
this whole experience – she accepts blame and responsibility.
She knows that her actions will have consequences for other
people – the story of Eva Smith has made this much more
realistic for her.
- Mr Birling exclaims that young people think they know
everything but they’re wrong – ironically, it is the young Birlings
who have learnt from their mistakes here.
