An Inspector Calls

"We don't live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other." Why are these words central to the main moral theme of the play?

What are the meaning of these words?

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One of the plays mains themes is that we must all care more thoroughly about the general welfare, not just ourselves or the things that effect us individually.

Priestley a politcal agenda when writing 'An Inspector Calls'. He was a strong believer in socialism, and the purpose of the play is to convey this message to his audiance through his Brechtian style.

'we don't live alone. We are members of one body'

Priestley uses anaphora to highlight the word ‘we’ which is a plural pronoun and that indicates that the inspector is grouping the whole society and informing us that our actions no matter how small or unseemingly they are, they will always affect the entire humanity. A body needs to function so that a human can survive, to function, the body has organs that make up different systems, each having a specific function, Priestly is describing us as if we are these organs an that our actions will have certain consequences no matter if they are intended or unintended.