The Interconnected Nature of Society in An Inspector Calls - Literature Essay Samples

In An Inspector Calls, J.B. Priestley expresses the importance of the interconnected nature of society through his exploration of how his characters react to their responsibility; this theme is also addressed through ideas of society present both at the time of writing and when the play was set. Priestley chiefly uses the character of Inspector Goole to convey the theme of interconnectedness and responsibility, who catechises to the Birlings the belief that, ‘We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other’. Through statements such as this, the play demonstrates how the Inspector believes that every member of society is affected by every other. There is no way to escape association with others, as the Birlings believed at the beginning of the play. The short, definitive sentences create an imposing and authoritative tone that matches the Inspector’s ‘massiveness’, as he is originally described. The Inspector continues to warn that ‘if men will not learn [this] lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish.’ This reinforces the Inspector’s message and carries a powerful and threatening tone that confronts both the Birlings and the audience alike. The use of a syndetic list of three, ‘fire and blood and anguish’ evokes images of divine retribution, therefore making the Inspector the ultimate force of good against the evil of complacency and selfishness. Furthermore, the use of the syndetic list shows to the audience that the Inspector is impassioned and angry. This demonstrates how ardently the play criticises a society where one is responsible only for themselves. ‘Lesson’ shows how the Inspector is an didactic or possibly sanctimonious character, who can be said to be a representation of Priestley with his message of the need for an interconnected and fair society. In fact, Priestley had strong socialist and left-wing views that the audience can view has having been transferred to Inspector Goole. At the time of writing, in post-war Britain, the public had been exposed to the abundance of poverty in the country and there was a call for a fairer society, resulting in the Beveridge Report and the creation of the welfare state. Priestley witnessed the creation of the welfare state; therefore, An Inspector Calls was written with the idea of social equality as a fundamental theme of the play and indeed the as the chief axiom of the Inspector’s lecturing. A 1945 audience would recognise the Inspector’s call for social responsibility and see the proleptic irony in the Birlings’ original contempt towards lower classes in society. This is especially poignant considering that the period of the play, 1912, is immediately before the outbreak of WWI and therefore is just before the beginning of changing attitudes and the desire for an integrated society. Another way in which the play stresses the need for an interconnected society is by highlighting the Birlings’ complacency and arrogance. In Mr. Birling’s Act 1 speech, he states that ‘a man has to make his own way—has to look after himself’, showing how he is selfish and only cares about himself. Birling is then immediately interrupted by the Inspector’s arrival, foreshadowing the way the Inspector contradicts Mr. Birling’s ideologies and beliefs later in the play. This could also be said to relate to the difference between capitalist and socialist beliefs and the tensions between the two ideologies at the time of writing, with the election of a new labour government, but also at the time the play is set, when socialism and communism were becoming more prominent throughout Europe, culminating in the Russian revolution of 1917. In this way, the dismissal of Birling’s philosophies could reflect the decline of capitalism and the ri se of socialism at the time of writing. The audience is led to immediately dislike and disagree with Birling and his ideas of self-sufficiency and consequently the play praises an interconnected society, the opposite of what Birling stands for. Birling continues his speech to declare that ‘the way some of these cranks talk and write now, you’d think everybody has to look after everybody else, as if we were all mixed up together like bees in a hive.’ This demonstrates how Birling believes in segregation by social class, therefore complying by the Edwardian view of the social structure. The simile ‘like bees in a hive’ could be a reference to him being a factory owner, and therefore would show how he is complacent and leaves the work to those he deems less important than himself. At the time the play is set, factory workers were rebelling against their unfair work conditions and it was only by the time of writing this was taking effect and the idea of workers’ protection was improved. Therefore, in some ways, Mr. Birling is forecasting his own future by criticising the idea of a community working together – a socialist idea held by Priestley and assumedly the majority of the audience. Furthermore, the proleptic irony in the reference to ‘these cranks’ could be referring to left-wing politicians, which makes Birling appear foolish as the audience knows that in a few years those ‘cranks’ would be in power. Alternatively, Birling could be referring to liberal writers such as Priestley, which is also an example of irony, as Priestley, the author, holds all the power over the play and his representative, Inspector Goole, holds the power within the play. Finally, the play shows the importance of an interconnected society by demonstrating the effect of being detached from others. Throughout the course of the play, the characters are found to be at least partially responsible for Eva Smith’s suicide, resulting in indignation or guilt. The Inspector states, ‘we’ll have to share our guilt’, foreshadowing at how all the characters will share responsibility eventually. The older characters, Mr. and Mrs. Birling, deny their guilt, but Sheila and Eric are emotionally disturbed by the knowledge of what they’ve done. By the end of the play, Eric reflects, ‘I did what I did. And Mother did what she did. And the rest of you did what you did to her. It’s still the same rotten story.’ This shows how he has accepted his culpability and cannot forget about it, despite the Inspector’s dubious credibility. While the family are cleared of legal guilt, they are still morally in the wrong, whic h will inevitably affect the family’s relationship and life in the future. As Sheila states, she ‘can’t help thinking about this girl,’ suggesting that the memory of Eva Smith will haunt her conscience for a long time. This acts as a warning to the audience to be mindful of their actions and take into account the repercussions on others, therefore demonstrating how the play stresses the importance of the interconnectedness of society. Priestleys play therefore stresses the importance of an interconnected society by demonstrating the effects of guilt on the human conscience and the consequences of denying responsibility. However, Priestley also draws on contextual references to both 1945 and 1912 to evoke to the audience the need for interconnection. This drama thus teaches its viewers how the significant lessons from the play should be applied to the real world.

Black History Of American Education - 2125 Words

â€Å"The history of American education abounds with themes that represent the inextricable ties between citizenship in a democratic society and popular education.†(Anderson) As a result of their skin color, blacks had always been discriminated against in US society. As a result, blacks had become jaded to the harshness of inequality and could not find a plausible way to gain equal footing because they were taught that they were lesser beings than whites. From late 19th century to the end of the 20th century, blacks have championed for their civil rights as a result of the initial education and basic civil rights granted to them after constitutionally written freedom from slavery. However, blacks were still inhibited from becoming full members of society by discriminatory racial stereotypes and laws imposed on them by US society such as Jim Crows laws. Black history in the US, as a result, is immensely complicated and unique as is portrays the struggle of a race to elevate to an equal status of whites in US society, a struggle that continues to this day. However, oppression caused by Jim Crow laws stimulated the formation of black political parties that unified the race, notably the NAACP, and by utilizing the education given to the blacks during the Reconstruction Era and beyond, they formed a sense of black culture and identity, advancing their racial position in society. 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‘Describe and Evaluate Carl Jung’s Theory Concerning...

Module Three Essay Title: ‘Describe and evaluate Carl Jung’s theory concerning personality types and show how they might usefully help a therapist to determine therapeutic goals’ Page 1 Introduction In this essay I aim to demonstrate an understanding of Jung’s personality types by describing and evaluating his theory and to show how they might useful in helping a therapist to determine therapeutic goals. I will also look at some of the criticisms levelled at Jung’s theory. Carl Gustav Jung, (26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961), was a Swiss psychologist and psychiatrist, and the founder of analytical psychology. His father was a Pastor, and he had an isolated childhood, becoming very introverted, it seems he had a†¦show more content†¦He referred to the integrated personality as Self; the centre of the total psyche, including both the conscious and the unconscious. The Self includes all of a person’s qualities and potentials whether or not they become apparent at a particular stage of life. The goal of therapy is to guide the client to become a whole a human being as personal circumstances will allow. It was out of Jung’s confrontation with the unconscious, both in himself and in his patients, that he slowly elaborated his psychology. In his 1921 work, ‘Personality Types’, Jung compared his four functions (as shown below) of personality to the four points on a compass. While a person faces one direction, he or she still uses the other points as a guide. Most people keep one function as the dominant one although some people may develop two over a lifetime. It is only the person who achieves self-realization that has completely developed all four functions. His book also acted as the compass by which Jung tried to understand how he differed from Freud and Adler, but more importantly, could begin to chart the internal world of people. Jung’s Four Psychological Functions are as follows: Rational Functions ï‚Ÿ Thinking (process of cognitive thought) ï‚Ÿ Feeling (function of subjective judgment or valuation) enabling decision making Irrational Functions ï‚Ÿ Sensation (perception using the physical sense organs ï‚Ÿ Intuition (receptivity toShow MoreRelatedDescribe and Evaluate Carl Jung’s Theory Concerning Personality Types and Show How It Might Usefully Help a Therapist to Determine the Clients Therapeutic Goals?2246 Words   |  9 PagesDescribe and evaluate Carl Jung’s theory concerning personality types and show how it might usefully help a therapist to determine the clients therapeutic goals? ~ Word count 2247 Personality can be described as the individual’s characteristic patterns of thought emotion and behaviour together with psychological mechanisms-hidden or not behind those patterns. The influence of both genetics and heredity factors alongside upbringing, culture and experience are recognised as influencing

Compassion in nursing free essay sample

The vision set out by the Chief Nursing Officer for England and Department of Health Nursing Director recognised the importance of addressing the quality of care following the failings at Winterbourne View and Mid-Staffordshire Hospital (Cummings, J and Bennett, V, 2012). The Chief Nursing Officer for England and Department of Health Nursing Director consequently founded the six essential values of a care giver; care, compassion, communication, competence, courage and commitment (6C’s) (Cummings, J and Bennett, V, 2012). This essay is going to look at the meaning of compassion, explore its importance within a healthcare setting and outline how compassionate care can be delivered. This essay will also identify reasons why compassionate care can become exhausted and how to overcome this problem. Compassion is about providing intelligent care which exhibits empathy, kindness, trust, respect and dignity, but moreover, it is how the patient feels about the care they receive (Cummings and Bennett 2012). To provide compassionate care requires a personal obligation to recognise the suffering of another person and to actively commit to alleviate that pain (Straughair, 2012). The nurse has a duty to provide care and promote health and wellbeing of the patient, therefore, in moments of suffering it is important to provide compassion (Cingel 2009). Nurses and midwives are bound by the NMC Code (2010) to treat patients as individuals with kindness, consideration and dignity in a non-discriminatory way. Compassion in practice is important to show patients that they are not alone in their suffering, if it is not acknowledged, patients will feel ignored, thus escalating the feelings of distress and denying the importance of a loss (Cingel, 2009). This can be demonstrated from a workplace observation where a patient with a brain injury was left alone sobbing in the dining room while staff ignored and dismissed her usual behaviour, this led to her becoming anxious and more withdrawn. The absence of compassion gave rise to feelings of uncomfortableness and although it was questioned, on reflection, the lack of experience and courage meant this insensitive behaviour was regretfully not fully challenged. Cingel (2009), suggests acknowledging the suffering can help the patient to deal with underlying emotions such as anger or anxiety, however, compassion does not eliminate the suffering it simply allows a patient to feel cared for. A workplace example demonstrates this point; whilst comforting someone during the aftermath of a traumatic labour, where the patient’s baby had been rushed to the neonatal unit and the mother left on a post natal ward feeling anxious and scared. This particular case required both compassion and communication i. e. good listening, eye contact, and a gentle hand placed on the patient’s hand represented a caring and compassionate touch. Being empathetic allowed the patient to talk through her emotions which alleviated some of her stress but it did not take away the pain she was feeling inside and the longing to be with her baby. Foster (2013) believes that compassion is an innate quality which can be delivered in many different ways and Cingel (2009) believes that to deliver compassionate care in practice involves building relationships with patients by creating common ground whilst being able to maintain a professional standard. This means that nursing staff need to be able to distance themselves from making personal judgments whilst being able to connect with the patient on an individual level, in order to personalise compassionate care. For example, one occasion when helping a distressed breastfeeding mother whose baby would not latch required encouragement in a non-judgemental way so that she did not feel a failure. Remaining professional in order to educate her with a method that best suited her and sharing personal experiences allowed the patient to feel that she was not alone. In order for compassion to be delivered by nursing staff it should be role modelled by leaders (Foster, 2013), this means that health care workers must be supported and leaders must recognise the tiring effects of emotional labour. In a Nursing Standard (2013) article one student reports that by seeing the delivery of good care by their peers gives student nurses an opportunity to appreciate the value of the 6C’s which could create a passion to adopt them in their own working methods. In a study carried out on student nurses it was discovered that the students were able to better empathise by disclosing information about themselves, this in turn allowed patients to trust and confide in the students which was conducive for better relationships (Curtis, 2013). It was however, noted that students were uncertain of their boundaries and some student nurses found that they were having to mask their emotions in order to cope with the emotional demands of compassionate practice for them to remain professional. Despite this uncertainty students were encouraged with the obvious relief of suffering as a direct result of their interaction and compassion (Curtis, 2013). Nevertheless, students feared that becoming too emotionally attached could lead to vulnerability and they felt it was necessary to learn to toughen up (Curtis, 2013). Students were also worried that by hardening their emotional exterior would lead to becoming uncompassionate thus having detrimental effects on patients and their own wellbeing (Curtis, 2013). Detrimental effects seen in one American study discovered that when there was a patient rise in relation to staffing numbers, this resulted in higher numbers of nurse burnout which in turn increased the number of health care associated infections. The study found that with every ten percent increase of nurse burnout, the urinary tract infection rate went up by nearly one per one thousand patients and surgical site infections went up by two in one thousand patients (Cimiotti, 2012). From experience, staff have been observed performing inefficient hand hygiene techniques during excessively busy spells which could, in part, explain the link between increased infection rates and staff burnout. Research suggests that burnout occurs on a gradual basis when the demands of work become too stressful to manage. Burnout presents itself in a change of attitudes and behaviours such as lack of enthusiasm and frustration (Sabo 2006). The manifestation of burnout is thought to increase the chances of experiencing the acute onset of compassion fatigue (Sabo 2006). Compassion fatigue occurs with the prolonged suffering of a patient that requires nursing staff to deliver intense levels of care and compassion. When a health care provider is continuously exposed to the stressfulness of emotional situations compassion discomfort can occur. If compassion discomfort is not acknowledged and dealt with it could lead to compassion stress which further leads to compassion fatigue, this is when compassion has become completely exhausted and is unlikely to be regained. A health care worker who is exhausted of compassion tends to make more errors due to a lack of concentration, they become more irritable and less eager to please. Emotionally they find it hard to cope and when it starts to take over a person’s life both personally and professionally sickness levels may rise (Coetzee and Klopper 2010) which will consequently have an adverse effect on staffing levels. Increased absences and sickness reporting loses the NHS five billion a year and four billion can be attributed to thirty million days lost from certified psycho-neurotic disorders (Brykczynska, 1997). Since it is important for nurses to be compassionate and caring Coetzee and Klopper, (2010) believes that in order to prevent compassion fatigue it is important to provide in-house training. This would help staff to identify the signs of compassion discomfort and compassion stress thus preventing the debilitating effects of compassion fatigue, furthermore, it would enable staff to spot the signs developing in their colleagues. They suggest that to prevent the development of compassion fatigue free counselling and life education services should be offered to all members of nursing staff. It was also suggested that student nurses should be educated on compassion fatigue so that they can be empowered to spot the signs and implement strategies to protect themselves against it (Coetzee and Klopper 2010). Curtis (2013) also suggested a better support system would help students achieve and sustain compassionate practice. One study suggests that nurse burnout can be reduced by providing clinical supervision and as long as there is professional resources available and good mental and physical capacity, it can promote motivation and wellbeing amongst staff. However, the study questioned how many people suffering with staff burnout were more susceptible to stress due to their personality traits; consequently it was unclear if clinical supervision would be of benefit to them (Koivu et al, 2012). In Conclusion compassion is about identifying the suffering of another person and having a strong will to alleviate the pain. It would suggest that in order to provide good compassionate care it should be role modelled by leaders as well as other members of staff, however, it is important for new healthcare workers coming into the profession to have appropriate personality traits such as a natural compassion. Compassion can become exhausted due to the stresses and pressures of a busy working environment which puts strain on the emotions of workers. To ensure compassionate care is constantly delivered, there should be a good support network and the provision of education for current members of staff as well as students nurses which would help to reduce vulnerability, burnout and compassion fatigue. Providing clinical supervision in conjunction with personal and professional resources could boost staff morale and wellbeing. A happy workforce is less inclined to be compromised thus reduces the chance of burnout and compassion fatigue which in turn would create better compassionate care that could be sustainable. If all these support systems are in place, the healthcare associated infection rate could be reduced as well as creating a stronger and healthier workforce thus alleviating a financial burden to the NHS.