I do not understand this...he did not let any of the other family members see the photos and it struck me.....another thing, was Eva Smith really alive during the play?
No, Eve is dead.
well, at my school... we have came to the conclusion that the inspector is not real, he is a ghoul; hence inspector goole.
therefore there things he said where only things that would haunt them. each picture is a different girl that each character can relate to.
however, we are now all confused about the girl that dies in the infaramery. so that is a question that we will need to find out.
Nay help?? x
we have the exam next week...
The question of whether Eva was alive or not is irrelevant. The point Priestley wanted to put across to the readers of the play is the moral dilemma in which he places the characters and the ongoing theme of responsibility. The fact that the older generation (Birling, Mrs Birling and Gerald) were not affected in the slightest by the fact that they may have contributed to a young girl's death, whereas the younger generation (Eric and Sheila) were genuinely remorseful and guilty. This also relates to another key theme of class; Birling, a self-centred, pompous character, only cares about upholding HIS reputation and family name and anyone of a lower class is irrelevant to him. The Inspector, however, raises a valuable point that 'there are millions of John Smiths and Eva Smiths in the world', suggesting that snobby upper-class people are the cause of this issue.
just wanted to practice my exam technique :-)
We never see Eva Smith on stage in the play. We only have the evidence that the Inspector and the Birling's give us. The inspector says that she had kept a sort of diary which helped peice together the last two years of her life. A diary is very personal and this tells the audience that the inspector has a personal connection to Eva Smith. Perhaps he is her ghost. In act 3 we begin to wondr whether Eva ever really existed. Gerald says; "We've no proof it was he same photograph and therefore no proof it was the same girl". Yet the final phone call, anouncing that a police inpsector is shortly to arrive at the Birlinga' house makes the audience realise that maybe Eva Smith did exist after all. If you think about it Eva's name is similar to Eve-the first woman created by God in the Bible. Smith is the most common English surname. Therefore, Eva Smith could represent every woman of her class.
my brain:)
