The Significance Of The Inspector Essay Example for Free

The Significance Of The Inspector Essay What Is The Significance Of The Inspector Structurally, Thematically, Linguistically And Contextually In Priestleys An Inspector Calls? How Could An Actor/Director Portray His Role Successfully On Stage? John Priestly first wrote An Inspector Calls in 1945, although it was not performed in England until 1 October 1946. The New Theatre in London hosted the performance by the Old Vic Company. The play is the story of an upper class family, living in the comforts of pre-WWI Britain. As they finish their dinner, a mysterious police officer (known only as the Inspector) enters and questions the family about the suicide of a young woman, breaking them down and changing their moral opinions. The focus of the play is this journey that the family under go from ignorance to knowledge, brought on by the Inspectors presence. This essay will explore how big a part of the plot the Inspector is and how he could be portrayed in a production successfully. Arguably one of the most important traits of the Inspector is his use of language. He uses his choice of words to change the atmosphere, the mood of the characters and the pace of the conversation. When the Inspector enters at the beginning of the play, he appears in no rush to question the characters or even explain why he is there. This annoys Birling, as he is curious why this mysterious policeman is visiting: BIRLING: Well, what can I do for you? Some trouble about a warrant? INSPECTOR: No, Mr Birling. BIRLING: (after a pause, with a touch of impatience) Well, what is it then? The Inspector uses the familys fascination to ensure that he is always listened to and is in control. He is the only character in the play at this time that knows the purpose of his visit, and this complete knowledge of the case runs throughout the play, and has different effects on different characters. The Inspector feels that everyone should feel a sense of responsibility for each other. He disapproves of the family members attempts to distance themselves from the girl and displays this when talking to Mrs Birling: She came to you for help, at a time when no women could have needed it more. And you not only refused it yourself but saw to it that others refused it to. The Inspector is trying to evoke sympathy for the girl by not only stating facts but also adding extra, emotive details such as when no women could have needed it more. The Inspector also, through his actions and possibly supernatural ways, creates a presence that makes the other characters listen to him without question. It says that when he enters for the first time that he creates a sense of massiveness and purposefulness. The Inspector even manages to do things that would be judged as completely unacceptable by the Birlings if anyone else were to do it, such as interrupting the head of the household: INSPECTOR: (cutting in smoothly) Just a minute Mr Birling. The Inspectors calm and composure creates a sense of authority about him and uses his presence to allow him to direct the conversation when he feels that it is drifting away from the central message of the play. The character of the Inspector not only changes the direction of conversation when he wants to, but also changes the tempo of it according to the attitude of the person he is interviewing. For example, when he is questioning Sheila, the Inspector only lightly prompts her to tell her story: INSPECTOR: (cutting in) Never mind about that. You can settle that between you afterwards. What happened? Through this short open-ended question, the Inspector provokes Sheila to confess to using her influence to ensure Eva Smith lost her job. With someone more tightly lipped, such as Mrs Birling, the Inspector uses lots of short questions, as she is unwilling to give an account of events: INSPECTOR: She appealed to your organisation for help? MRS B: Yes. INSPECTOR: Not as Eva Smith? MRS B: No. Nor as Daisy Renton. INSPECTOR: As what then? MRS B: First she called herself Mrs Birling By changing the velocity of the exchange, the Inspector not only adapts his questions to the suspect but even possibly shock them into a confession. With Sheila the Inspector is supportive, maybe even sympathetic, towards her as she is clearly the most sensitive to the death. As Sheila is already showing remorse for her actions, the Inspector isnt unnecessarily cruel to her, although he is still concrete on the fact that what Sheila did was wrong. With Mrs Birling however, she appears not to regret her conduct or even feel sorrow for the girls death. The Inspector therefore changes his approach accordingly, asking her short questions and trying to get her to empathise with Eva Smith. When this fails, the Inspector then reveals Evas deserting lover to be Eric. The shock of this revelation completely destroys Mrs Birlings mental barrier between her and Eva.

The Witch Trials of 1692 :: American America History

The Witch Trials of 1692 During the winter of 1692, in the small village of Salem, Massachusetts, something terrible happened. Salem Massachusetts became the center of a horrible tragedy, which changed the life of many people. It was a time of fear, because of bad crops, Indian raids, and diseases. The people of Salem Village had to blame something, or someone. The people of Salem Village accused people, and called them witches. They were accused of all those terrible things and more. Salem Village was a small, farming community with a population of 550. It was smaller than Salem Town, and about eight miles away. Salem Town was a large port, and was a prosperous fishing community The two towns had the same minister, and used the same church as the people in Salem Village. At that time there was two groups in the village. Those who wanted to be separate from Salem Town, and those who did not. Samuel Parris was the minister of the group that did want to be separate. He helped divide the groups even more by his sermons. He called the group that did not want to separate, evil and bad, and the group that did, good and righteous. The Reverend Parris and his wife had two children living with them. They were Betty, their daughter, and Abigail, their niece. Abigail and Betty were the reason that the trials started. Before becoming a minister, Samuel Parris had failed at being a merchant. All he had to show for all the long hard years of being a merchant, were the family slaves, Tituba, and her husband, John Indian. Abigail and Betty Parris were having their fortunes told by Tituba, behind their parents backs. Betty started having fits, possibly because she could not bear to keep secrets from her parents. Abigail also started having fits, and instead of getting into trouble, they became popular and respected. Soon, other girls joined in. Most of the afflicted girls lived in the houses of the Parris's and the Putnams, which were the Reverend's family and friends. During the fits, the girls screamed, rolled their eyes back into their heads, shook, and twisted their bodies into impossible positions, and accused peop le of biting and pinching them. They accused people that were against Samuel Parris, or had an argument with the Parris's, or the families of the other afflicted girls. By the end, they had accused most of the people that were in conflict with the new church, or their families.

How reliable are the narrators in the novella Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad and the fiction novel Great Expectations of Charles Dickens Essay

A reliable narrator is one who is factual, trustworthy, and competent in relating the story. Generally, there are two types of narrators. The first person narrator focuses in-depth on only one character, which could be his or her character, and the impact of other characters on this sole character. Third person narrators provide a comprehensive picture of the different characters and the situations unfolding in the story. While third party narrators receive greater regard for reliability due to omniscience, a first or third person narrator could be reliable or unreliable depending on the character of the narrator and the intention of the novel. The novel Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad is a frame narration, which means the story lies within a story. To achieve this end, there are two narrators. The first narrator is unknown and provides an introduction of the character of the second narrator, Charlie Marlow. The narration describes Marlow as having deep-set cheeks and yellowish complexion but straight-backed indicating he is not heavily built but not frail either. The unknown narrator, by representing the views of the other people on board the ship in describing Marlow as non-conventional or atypical because of his tendency to weave stories and recount tales introspectively, expresses the reliability of his assessment of Marlow. This puts into question the factual manner of Marlow’s narration. In Marlow’s accounts of his trip along the Congo River to fetch Kurtz, an ivory trader trapped in an African village, the focus is more of his interpretation of people and events without much recount of who these people are and the context of the situation. Marlow is clearly against colonialism but do not recount in detail the situation in Africa that makes colonialism repulsive to him and what are the solutions. The trustworthiness of Marlow as a narrator is not clear-cut. Marlow is a decent person but his actions do not always reflect his views. He is against the exploitative nature of the colonial explorers in Africa and feels burdened by the situation but his character is complicit about the situation. He has limited interaction with the natives and does not express their views. Marlow is a competent narrator but only for himself. His accounts do not reflect the experiences and perspectives of the other people he talks about such as the villagers of the communities he visited or the colonial communities in Africa. In Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, the narrator is Pip, who is also the main character of the novel. Pip’s narrative is factual because he tells not only about his good side such as helping people and becoming a gentleman but also of his bad side such as his mistaken impression about Magwich and his embarrassment of Joe’s uneducated ways. Pip is a protagonist in the novel, an orphaned but kindhearted boy, who although frightened to steal food for a thief, causing him guilt, and although yielding to the initial class-based prejudices wrought by society, ended up making things right. The nature of the character of Pip as trustworthy and sensible makes his accounts reliable. Pip is an eyewitness narrator. The novel is a semi-biographical work, which means that Pip is telling his life story according to his own experiences and perspectives. This finds expression in some of the chapter titles such as ‘The Convict Frightens Me’, ‘I Execute My trust’, and ‘My State of Mind’. Pip is also the main character. This means that he is competent to narrate his story and the story of the people around him whom he witnessed. This makes his accounts reliable because of first hand experience and view. Although a first person narrator, the trustworthy character of Pip makes him a reliable storyteller of his own life and the life of the people around him. Heart of Darkness and Great Expectations include first person narrators. Although, there is general reservation towards the reliability of first person narrators, the reliability of these narrators also depend on character, plot and intention of the story. Based on the criteria of a reliable narrator, the narrator in Great Expectations is more reliable because of his factual account and trustworthy character while the narrator in Heart of Darkness is not very factual or trustworthy. The third person narrator in Heart of Darkness attests to the atypical character of the first person narrator.

Lockes Philosophies On Toleration and State of Nature - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 2 Words: 721 Downloads: 7 Date added: 2019/07/30 Category People Essay Level High school Tags: John Locke Essay Did you like this example? Before the American Revolution, preachers and philosophers like John Locke developed many ideas that would influence American colonists to question Britains intentions. Born in 1632 in Wrighton, Somerset, Locke was born as a son of a lawyer. Later on, he was a student at Christ Church, Oxford from 1652- 1667. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Lockes Philosophies On Toleration and State of Nature" essay for you Create order In 1666, Locke met Anthony Ashley Cooper, later known as the Earl of Shaftesbury. Shaftesbury, a minister to Charles II and founder of the opposing Whig party, worked alongside John Locke, in attempt to stop the Catholic duke of York, later known as James II, from succeeding the royal crown in the exclusion campaign of 1679. When that failed, Shaftesbury planned an armed resistance, forcing him to flee to Holland in 1682 for a year with John Locke. Locke would return back to England in result of the appointment of Protestant William III during the Glorious Revolution, where he would publish his most significant works. Over time, two of his ideas transpired into the ideologies of toleration and State of Nature. On a religious perspective, Locke believed in toleration. Although he was a devout Christian, he believe that the use force was not the righteous way to convert people. Locke preached that the government should not be able to use oppression or intimidation to try to bring people to the true religion and that religious societies should not use power on members, or outsiders. Lockes support for this claim arose from ideologies by Jesus of Nazareth and the New Testament of the Bible, both not indicating the use of coercion to convert those of a different religion. The idea that true religion consists of genuine persuasion of the mind, supports the fact that force, especially government force, is incapable of true conversion. Lockes idea of toleration influenced the structure and foundation of which the United States was built on, producing a free nation. In todays society, the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution ensures that the right to free expression of religion is protected. Us as individuals, are able to reside with any religion we prefer. In our day-to-day lives, we are morally obligated to treat each other with respect and dignity. Lockes ideas on toleration created a draft on which direction the United States should head into into the future. Upon the limit of government in the perspective of religion, Locke also believed in a State of Nature. In this ideal fantasy, all forms of government would be absent, but mutual constraints would still exist. Additionally, all people would be obligated to the rights of life, liberty, and property. Lockes idea of natural rights led to colonists realizing that Britain had become too authoritarian as a government. Later on, multiple taxes and duties would be enacted on the colonists by Britain, sparking outrage and riots within the colonies. However, Lockes central ideologies, along with prominent figures who further developed his ideas, would justify the need   for the American Revolution. The theory of State of Nature still affects philosophers today, posing the question if a good government can be legitimate, even if it does not have the actual consent of the people who live under it. In result, the development of a social contract system emerged, where people could replace the government if it did not abide by the peoples guidelines. Consequently, the United States government implemented a checks and balances system between three branches of government and a re-election process of government officials. In order to satisfy citizens who live under a government, the relationship must be mutually beneficial. Without Lockes opinion on this subject, the United States foothold as a global superpower would have never been possible. In conclusion, Lockes philosophies on toleration and State of Nature have impacted our everyday lives. As a predominant nation, the United States have adopted and evolved both ideas in order to form a successful government that both satisfies the people living under the system and keeps the country in order. In our First Amendment of the Constitution, toleration of different religions and opinions are respected in order to support being a free nation. Therefore, if a government does not respect, appeal to, or support their citizens, then they are obliged to replace those in authority. John Lockes influential ideas of toleration and State of Nature have left an everlasting mark on how our society runs today.