How does Priestley convey his message in An Inspector Calls?
Being a co-founder of the Socialist Commonwealth Party, Priestley felt that his political views on socialism were very important and these views are displayed prominently throughout An Inspector Calls. Priestley uses characters to represent the different generations and also uses the Inspector as a mouthpiece to distribute his views; several critics describe the Inspector as Priestley’s alter ego. The Inspector conveys Priestley’s most important message, that a change in society’s attitude is required. Through Sheila’s words, “of course he knows. And I hate to think how much he knows that we don’t already know yet” we can see that the Inspector is believed to be an omniscient presence. He speaks as if he is divine by referring to the people as men and during his last speech he says, “If men will not learn that lesson, they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish.” These words are influenced by Priestley’s own experiences fighting in the First World War. Portraying the Inspec...