An Inspector Calls

Themes: Responsibility - Class - Age

Stories

Billenium

Themes: Unhappiness - Overpopulation - Loss of Privacy

Sredni Vashtar

Themes: Imagination vs Reality - Religion - Hate

Poems

Father Returning Home

Themes: Alienation - Passing of Time - Family

Love (III)

Themes: Love - Religion - Redemption (God is forgiving the speaker)

Thematic Statement

Billenium

Thesis Statement: Unhappiness: Unhappiness is when people lose the good way of living.

“The cubicle was slightly more than four and a half square metres in floor area, half a square metre over the statutory maximum for a single person...” (Page 184)

Unhappiness is shown by this dreadful way of living of every person in the world.

Thesis Statement: Overpopulation: Overpopulation can turn the world to an impossible place to live because there isn’t enough space for humanity.

“Thirty million people are packed into this city now, a million increase in just one year.” (Page 186)

There is too much people in the world and they have to pay that living in very small cubicles; on top of that the population continues growing every year.

Thesis Statement: Loss of Privacy: Overpopulation makes that people lose their privacy.

“...the ceaseless press of people jostling past the window had reduced him to a state of exhaustion. The street was always full, an endless clamour of voices and shuffling feet.” (Page 184)

There are so many people who end up being all crowded together and there is no privacy.

Sredni Vashtar

Thesis Statement: Imagination vs Reality: We use imagination to escape from the reality of a cruel world.

“Without his imagination, which was rampant under the spur of loneliness, he would have succumbed long ago.”

Conradin had an strong imagination and he use it to escape from the real world and to escape from Mrs. De Ropp

Thesis Statement: Religion: There is rivalry and adversity between people of different religions.

“The Houdan hen was never drawn into the cult of Sredni Vashtar. Conradin had long ago settled that she was an Anabaptist.” (Page 97)

Mrs. De Ropp indulged Conradin in religion and force him to go to church. Conradin created his own religion making the ferret his God and the Houdan hen an Anabaptist to be against his cousin.

Thesis Statement: Hate: Hate makes us do everything we can to annoy the other.

“...one morning she announced that the Houdan hen had been sold and taken away overnight.” (Page 97)

Mrs. De Ropp would do everything she can to bother Conradin and control him.

Father Returning Home        

Thesis Statement: Alienation: Work can transform man into a “slave”.

“He goes into the toilet to contemplate” (Page 30)

He goes to the toilet to relax for a moment because he had a long day and he does always the same job.

Thesis Statement: Passing of Time: Doing all the day the same work ages people.

“A few droplets cling to the greying hairs on his wrists.” (Page 30)

The father come back home every day after doing always the same job and he is aging more and more.

Thesis Statement: Family: Work can ruin family relationships.

“His sullen children have often refused to share jokes and secrets with him.” (Page 30)

He is back home but he doesn’t talk with his children, he don’t interact with them or share jokes.

Love (III)

Thesis Statement: Love: God is a force that is able to encounter man to absolute love.

“My dear, then I will serve.” (Page 9)

God convince the speaker that he deserves being there.

Thesis Statement: Religion: Humanity looks for transcendence in religion.

“Truth Lord, but I have marred them: let my shame go where it doth deserve.” (Page 9)

The speaker tries to tell him that he doesn’t deserve to be there and he don’t understand why God/Love insists that he should be there.

Thesis Statement: Redemption: Love/God forgives everyone.

“Who made the eyes but I?” (Page 9)

The speaker don’t want to be forgiven by God, but God is telling him that he decides who deserves to be forgiven.

An Inspector Calls

Thesis Statement: Responsibility: Everyone is responsible for their own behaviour and for the welfare of others.

“...each of you helped to kill her.” (Page 55)

The inspector wants to show that each member of the family is responsible for the death of Eva Smith.

Thesis Statement: Class: Upper classes despise the working class.

“There are a lot of young women living that sort of existence in every city and big town in this country, Miss Birling. If there weren’t, the factories and warehouses wouldn’t know where to look for cheap labour.” (Page 19)

“Girls of that class…” (Page 30)

The inspector and Mrs. Birling look down upon the working class.

Thesis Statement: Age: Younger generation is the chance to change and help to a brighter future.

“-So nothing really happened. So there’s nothing to be sorry for, nothing to learn. We can all go on behaving just as we did.

-Well, why shouldn’t we?” (Page 71)

We can see that Sheila wants everyone to feel sorry of what they did to Eva Smith, but her mother is doing like if nothing happened.