Gerald quotes: theme-responsibility

Question 1

'’young and fresh and altogether out of place down there’’

Answer 1

• '’down there’’ bears connotations of Hell which implies that the actions of the Birlings led her into perpetual torment. Here, Priestley criticises the Capitalist system as, much like a cog in the works of the body of society, it stunts growth through the futility it bears on the vulnerable (the working class) who can’t access any form of escape of their position other than suicide.
  -Priestley further vilifies Capitalism through the consumerism it encourages as mirrored in the behaviour of Gerald Croft; treats Daisy Renton as a disposable, expendable object- like the common wildflower she’s named after, her worth was only momentary: when picked and briefly admired before being indifferently thrown aside

Question 2

when addressing his relationship with Eva, Gerald uses terms like:
‘‘install her’’ ‘‘in return’’ ‘‘propose’’

Answer 2

-semantic field of finance and business illustrates how entrenched Gerald is in his capitalist values as money and greed encompasses his entire human experience
-disassociates from life’s sentiment
-Capitalism strips humans of their humanity: Gerald treats his relationships as business transactions
-feeds into idea of war which devalues human life by treating it as a conduit through which profit can be made