Class 11 Alternative English Chapter 12 An Inspector Calls

Class 11 Alternative English Chapter 12 An Inspector Calls answer to each chapter is provided in the list so that you can easily browse throughout different chapters Assam Board Class 11 Alternative English Chapter 12 An Inspector Calls, Class 11 Alternative English Question Answer, HS 1st year Alternative English and select needs one.

Class 11 Alternative English Chapter 12 An Inspector Calls

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Also, you can read the SCERT book online in these sections Solutions by Expert Teachers as per SCERT (CBSE) Book guidelines. These solutions are part of SCERT All Subject Solutions. Here we have given AHSEC Class 11 Alternative English Chapter 12 An Inspector Calls Solutions for All Subject, You can practice these here.

An Inspector Calls

Chapter: 12

1. Where does the investigation take place?

Ans: The investigation takes place in the dining room of the Birlings; house in Brumley. 

2. What is the name of the mother of Sheila Birling? 

Ans: Sybil Birling is the name of the mother of Sheila Birling who is often referred to as Mrs. Birling. 

3. What is the name of the Inspector? 

Ans: The name of the Inspector was google. 

4. Who is Edna?

Ans: Edna is the Birling family’s maid, who cleans, pours drinks, and announces guests, but otherwise has little role in the play. 

5. Who had taken the name of Daisy Renton? 

Ans: Inspector Goole had taken the name of Daisy Renton.

6. Who said, ‘I say the girl’s dead and we all helped to kill her’?

Ans: Eric said ‘I say the girl’s dead and we all helped to kill her’, shouting at Birling. 

7. What is the initial reaction of Mr. Birling to the manner of the Inspector questioning?

Ans: The Inspector enters and makes an “impression of massiveness, solidity, and purposefulness.” Birling identifies that he must be a new inspector, as he does not recognize him, despite having been an alderman for years and knowing most of the police officers well. Birling tries to demonstrate his familiarity with the local police officers as a sign of power. This is the sort of “soft” power of connection and influence that the rich display almost without knowing it. Initially, Mr Birling seems offended by the Inspectors questioning, and also a little bemused at the Inspectors tone of voice. Here he shows how he shows how he thinks very few people are at his business level and so very few can understand his actions. He points out yet again, that he knows the Chief Constable. 

8. How does the Inspector react to the agitated response of Mrs. Birling at the time of first questioning? 

Ans: When Birling presses the Inspector on the suicide of a young woman who recently swallowed disinfectant and died in the Infirmary. The Inspector says that he has been to the dead girl’s room, where he found a letter and diary. She used more than one name, he says, but her real name was Eva Smith. Birling appears to recognize the name, and the Inspector informs him that she had been employed in his works. When Birling claims to know no more, the Inspector pulls out a picture to show him. The Inspector’s introduction of the girl’s suicide establishes the main premise of the play and sends a sudden shock through the comfortable world of the Birling‘s. Birling’s claim not to know the girl despite the fact that she worked for claim not to know the girl despite the fact that she worked for him is and attempt to insulate himself from her suicide, to assert to no connection to her or her death, almost to deny that he knew her as a human being. She was just a name on his payroll, he seems to be saying. 

9. Why does the Inspector not show the photograph to all the people at the same time? 

Ans: The Inspector shows Arthur alone, a photograph, and refuses to show the picture simultaneously to Eric. Gerald and Eric attempt to look at the photograph as well, but the Inspector does not allow them, preferring to work on only one line of inquiry at a time. The Inspector adds that questioning multiple people at a time would crate confusion. This also adds to the sense of mystery which surrounds the girl and the Inspector. 

10. Can Eva Smith be seen as a victim of personal and professional exploitation?

Ans: Eva Smith is an employee at Birling’s factory who leads group of workers in strike for higher wages. When their request is denied, she is forced to leave the factory. The Inspector alleges that Eva Smith repeatedly changed her name, and is the same girl that Sheila requested to get fired, that Mrs. Birling same girl that Sheila requested to get fired, that Mrs. Birling denied aid, and that Gerald and Eric had affairs with. As Gerald points out, however, there is no evidence that this is true. As such, Eva Smith becomes not just a character in the play, but also a symbol within the play. 

11. What was the size of the photograph of Eva Smith shown by the Inspector and what purpose was it meant to serve?

Ans: The photograph of Eva Smith shown by the Inspector was of postcard size.

The Inspector only shows the photograph to one person at a time. This means that no one character can even be sure that they have seen the same photograph as any other character. This adds to the sense of mystery which surrounds the girl and the Inspector. 

12. What was the nature of the relationship between Eva and Mrs. Birlings? 

Ans: Eva Smith was an employee at Birling’s factory who leads a group of workers in a strike for higher wages. When their request is denied, she was forced to leave the factory. In fact, Mrs Birlings was vary unsympathetic when describing Eva Smith’s position and considered as an immortal for her pre – martial pregnancy. 

13. How did Mr. Birling deal with the issue of pay hike demanded by the employees?

Ans: Mr Birling is the owner of Birling and Consumers., a factory business. He believes that his worker’s pay is reasonable. Obvious to the fact that his actions will have consequences, he states that he pays the normal wage for his industry. This business employs several girls to work on machines. However, due to the low salaries. Workers at Birling and Company decided to go on strike. They wanted the rates raised from twenty – two and six to twenty – five shillings a week. Consequently, Mr Birling fired Eva Smith from her job because she led a group of workers who strike because they wanted a pay raise. 

14. How did Eric respond when his relationship with Eva Smith was under scrutiny by the Inspector? 

Ans: Eric is the Birlings’ son and is in his early twenties, he is described as being ‘not quite at ease, half shy, half assertive’. In other words, he lacks confidence. At points he tries to stand up to his father but is talked down. It becomes clear that he is drunk at the dinner table and later it is revealed that he has been drinking too much for quite some time. It turns out that Eric had an affair with Eva Smith and that she was pregnant with Eric’s baby when she committed suicide. Eric stole money from his father’s business to help Eva. In the final act Eric makes an emotional attack on his parents and their values and shows that he can be assertive. 

15. What is the reaction of Mr Birling when he comes to know about the Inspector at the end of the play? 

Ans: Mr Birling answers the telephone call and receives the news that a young woman has just died and an inspector is on his way to make enquiries. The play ends here, leaving the audience wondering who the original Inspector is. Mr Birling is delighted when he discovers the Inspector is a fake, shown by the repeated stage direction ‘triumphantly’. When it seems that the Inspector might have been an imposter he mocks the others for having been ‘tricked’ by the investigation. By rejecting the attitudes held by Mr Birling, Priestley’s ence would lead a more responsible, socialist life. 

16. Why does Sheila feel that she has been let down by her family?

Ans: Sheila Birling is Arthur and Sybil’s daughter and is in her early twenties. At the start of the play she is celebrating her engagement to Gerald Croft and she is a giddy, naive and childish young lady. Sheila is the conscience of the Birling family. She realizes very soon after the Inspector’s arrival that her anger at Milward’s resulted in Eva or Daisy’s dismissal, and that, because Eva or Daisy went on to commit suicide, Sheila played a role in her demise. Sheila wonders how she will live with the grief her actions have caused, for herself, and of course for Eva or Daisy. She is despondent that she cannot undo what she has done, but is committed to the idea that the family can change going forward. She is also willing, at the play’s end, to forgive Gerald his infidelity, because he appeared to have genuinely cared for Eva/Daisy, even if at Sheila’s expense. 

17. Comment on the significance of the title of the play. Does it refer only to the Inspector and his identity? Give a well – considered response. 

Ans: An Inspector Call was written during the last year of the Second World War by J. B. Priestley, and was first performed in the Soviet Union in 1945. When it was first performed in the UK in 1946 it was labelled boring and one critic, Lionel Hale, who wrote for the Daily Mail, said it had a ‘fatal dead – end’. Despite this, Priestley was very successful and well – known for writing plays in a very short period of time. This essay will discuss how appropriate the title is, especially relating to Inspector Google, and how far he is the central character of the play. The title of the play has a lot of significance, because, from the moment that ‘An Inspector Calls’, the Birlings’ lives change suddenly and they are all faced, from this point onwards, with a moral issue and guilt that shadows their whole evening. The Inspector has the power to impact a whole family by disrupting their situation, but also by psychological means. 

The title is the first thing that someone will see or hear, and by having it symbolise the most significant event of the play, Priestley is already starting to put forward many of the themes brought about by the arrival of the Inspector. In this way the title is not only appropriate but also shows that the Inspector is very central indeed to the play, and even before he first arrived at the Birling household, it is obvious that he is going to have a big role to play in the events that will unfold. 

18. How do the different relationships with Eva Smith reflect upon the individuals involved? Present your views on the basis of your reading of the play. 

Ans: Eva Smith is a character who does not appear onstage in the play, but who is the absent figure around which the action spins. She is referred to as Eva Smith, Daisy Renton, and “Mrs. Birling. ” She may be a combination of these young women, or a different person, or a fiction. Whether she is real or not Eva/Daisy is a stand-in for the girls that Arthur, Sybil, Sheila, Eric, and Gerald have wronged, either separately or together. Eva/Daisy worked for a low wage, and Arthur fired her for attempting a strike. Sheila had her fired for impertinence. Eric and Gerald both had affairs with her, and though Gerald cared for her, Eric’s relationship with her was more vexed, and required him to steal money for her. If Eva is a real person, as the last phone call suggests, then the family’s guilt might really knot them together. But if she is not one person, and rather a set of people, this makes her no less substantial as an organisational principle for the work. 

Priestley demonstrates how selfish, or economically motivated, or jealous behaviour can ruin people’s lives. Eva is the lesson each character must learn individually. Eva Smith represents not only responsibility but forces the Birling family to feel and accept their guilt. She is the symbol of the working class within a capitalist society, ‘smith’ being a common surname represents the common working man and more specifically woman. This implies she is an object, used and abused by the Birlings whom are the typical representation of the bourgeoisie part of society.

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