AN INSPECTOR CALLS - QUOTES

Question	Answer
Germans don't want war. The Titanic... ...Unsinkable!	The dramatic irony is impossible to ignore, and indicates that Priestley is working to discredit Birling from the outset of the play.
Goole. G-double O-L-E	Sounds like 'ghoul' or ghost - is the inspector a spectre?
We'll have to share our guilt	Inspector tells everyone they are guilty in some way - even if it's just not thinking about Eva / Daisy.
Public men have responsibilities as well as privileges	Inspector Goole tells Mr Birling that he can't just take. He tells him that he has to take care of people, not just himself and his family.
I haven't much time	Does the Inspector control time? Has he come back from the future?
Fire and blood and anguish	A warning about World War 1 and 2. The audience know that wars are coming. He is also warning everyone that poor people will suffer more and more unless we treat everyone fairly.
There are millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths still left with us, with their lives, their hopes and fears, their suffering and chance of happiness, all intertwined with our lives.	Eva may have died but she is just an example of all the people who have no rights, no power. The Inspector tells us we must look after everyone, not just our family and friends.
We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other.	The Inspector tells us we must look after everyone, not just our family and friends.
I speak as a hard-headed businessman	Mr. Birling believes his advice and opinion should be taken on everything because he owns a business. He is very proud to be a capitalist (money maker) and wealthy.
Girls of that class...	Mr B shows that he thinks less of working class people, and that he is above them. He thinks "they" behave differently (and worse) than those of his class.
I'd give thousands	Mr Birling uses money to demonstrate how much he'd like things to be different. It shows he is money-centred. It shows he takes some responsibility, but only a bit.
A man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own.	Mr B says we only have to look after our family and friends - but nobody else. This is exactly the opposite of what the Inspector says about looking after everyone.
If you don't come down hard on these people, they'll soon be asking for the earth.	Mr Birling talks about working class as "these people" like they're different to and less than him. He also misses the point that these people have nothing and Eva was only asking for a little extra money.
A fair chance I might find my way into the next Honours List.	Mr Birling is expecting to be made a knight or a sir. It shows that he is powerful. However, it also shows that he is worried about his status and knows he's 'below' Lord & Lady Croft.
The whole story's just a lot of moonshine.	He is relieved when it appears that the Inspector is not real and the story was made up. He thinks he can just carry on as before (unlike Sheila and Eric) as the "public scandal" was the thing he really cared about.
public scandal	Mr Birling is terrified there will be a scandal which drags his name through the mud. He cares more about what people think of him than he does a girl's death.
You talk as if we were responsible.	Near the start... Sheila doesn't see how the Birlings are to blame (but soon changes her mind).
These girls aren't cheap labour - they're people.	Sheila starts to see that her father's way of looking at the world is wrong, and the Inspector's is right.
So I'm really responsible?	Sheila takes (some) responsibility for Eva's death.
I felt rotten about it at the time and now I feel worse.	Sheila talks about getting Eva sacked. She feels guilty and responsible.
I'll never, never do it again to anybody. I'm desperately sorry.	Sheila promises that she's mended her ways.
You used the power you had... to punish the girl?	The Inspector shows his anger at Sheila for getting Eva sacked and abusing her power.
A man has to mind his own business and look after his own	Mr Birling patriarchy selfish capitalism, monosyllables reflect how little he has thought about what he is saying and the effects of this attitude.
It's my duty to keep labour costs down	Money over dead women
'a pretty girl in her early 20s, very pleased with life and rather excited'	Sheila, stage directions, start of play she is childish, naïve, spoilt

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AN INSPECTOR CALLS - QUOTES

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	Created by Gaius Roberts 8 months ago