This memory aid covers Memory Aid: The Responsibility Trajectory within Theme: Responsibility & Social Class for GCSE English Literature. Revise Theme: Responsibility & Social Class in An Inspector Calls for GCSE English Literature with 12 exam-style questions and 15 flashcards. This topic shows up very often in GCSE exams, so students should be able to explain it clearly, not just recognise the term. It is section 13 of 16 in this topic. Use it for quick recall, then test yourself straight afterwards so the memory aid becomes usable in an answer.

🧠 Memory Aid: The Responsibility Trajectory

DENIAL → REVELATION → CHOICE

DENIAL — Birlings hold power, acknowledge no responsibility ("a man has to mind his own business")
REVELATION — Inspector shows the chain of complicity; privilege = responsibility ("public men have responsibilities as well as privileges")
CHOICE — Sheila and Eric accept; Mr and Mrs Birling refuse. The audience decides which kind of Birling they are ("I burned my boats" vs returning to denial)

Practice questions for Theme: Responsibility & Social Class

Which of the following is Mr Birling's view of responsibility in Act 1?

A. A man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own.
B. Every person has a duty to support those less fortunate than themselves.
C. Public men have responsibilities as well as privileges.
D. We are members of one body and responsible for each other.

1 markfoundation

How does Priestley use structure to present the theme of responsibility in **An Inspector Calls**? (2 marks)

2 marksstandard

Quick recall flashcards

Why does Eva Smith never appear on stage?

Priestley makes her absence structural. Eva Smith is invisible to the Birlings — she is working-class, and people like her do not exist in the Birlings' social world. Her physical absence from the stage enacts this invisibility while making her the moral centre the Inspector forces everyone to confront. She is the play's argument: those with power cannot afford to ignore those without it.

Mnemonic for the responsibility trajectory in An Inspector Calls

DENIAL → REVELATION → CHOICE D — Denial: 'A man has to mind his own business' (Birling holds power, acknowledges nothing) R — Revelation: 'Public men have responsibilities as well as privileges' (Inspector shows the chain) C — Choice: 'I burned my boats' (Sheila accepts; Birlings evade; audience decides) The trajectory doesn't resolve — it repeats with the final phone call, extending the CHOICE to the audience.

Common Misconceptions

Exam Connection

Memory Aid: The Responsibility Trajectory