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v Maranatha Christian University

ABSTRACT

Di dalam Tugas Akhir ini, saya melakukan analisis elemen-elemen plot

yang terdapat di dalam The Inspector Calls karya J. B. Priestley dan saya

menemukan lima suspense dan empat surprise. Suspense pertama adalah saat

Inspektur Goole menunjukkan foto wanita yang bunuh diri kepada keluarga

Birling. Suspense kedua saat Gerald Croft mendengar bahwa wanita yang bunuh

diri itu mempunyai dua nama. Suspense ketiga mengenai kehamilan Daisy

Renton. Suspense keempat mengenai seorang inspektur yang menelepon keluarga

Birling mengenai sebuah kasus bunuh diri. Suspense terakhir adalah saat di akhir

cerita pembaca mengetahui bahwa Goole bukan seorang inspektur.

Surprise pertama menunjukkan bahwa Sheila mengenal wanita yang bunuh diri.

Dalam surprise kedua, Gerald Croft mengakui bahwa dia pernah menjalin

hubungan dengan wanita yang bunuh diri. Surprise ketiga menunjukkan bawa

ayah dari anak Daisy Renton adalah Eric Birling. Susprise keempat menunjukkan

bahwa inspektur yang menelepon bukanlah teman kerja Inspektur Goole. Saya

menyimpulkan bahwa suspense, surprise and artistic unity yang terdapat dalam

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iii Maranatha Christian University

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT . . . i

TABLE OF CONTENTS . . . iii

ABSTRACT . . . v

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION Background of the Study . . . 1

Statement of the Problem . . . 2

Purpose of the Study . . . 2

Method of Research . . . 3

Organization of the Thesis . . . 3

CHAPTER TWO: ANALYSIS OF ELEMENTS OF PLOT IN AN INSPECTOR CALLS . . . 4

CHAPTER THREE: CONCLUSION . . . 14

BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . 17

APPENDICES: Synopsis of An Inspector Calls . . . 18

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18

APPENDICES

SYNOPSIS OF AN INSPECTOR CALLS

This play, An Inspector Calls tells about the Birling family who is

celebrating Sheila Birling’s engagement to Gerald Croft, when Inspector Goole

suddenly calls, telling about a girl, (Eva Smith) who has committed suicide. This

play takes place in 1912, right before World War I in Brumley

The inspector interviews each of the Birling’s family members. What is

surprising for the reader is that after lots of questions, it turns out that all of them

are more or less responsible for the death of this girl. Mr. Birling knows the girl

because she was his formal employee, Sheila knows the girl because she fired her

from her company and Mrs. Birling knows the girl because she once asked for her

help, and both Gerald Croft and Eric Birling knows the girl under a different

name, Daisy Renton. What is more surprising for the reader is that Gerald Croft

had an affair with the suicide girl and Eric Birling is responsible for the suicide

girl’s pregnancy. Finally, at the end of the play, after the inspector leaves the

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19 BIOGRAPHY OF J.B. PRIESTLEY

John Boynton Priestley was born in 1894 in Bradford, an industrial city in

the North of England and died in 1984. He was an “all-round writer” which means

he wrote all different sorts of literature. His childhood was all in one a peaceful

time in a moderate socialistically atmosphere.

Mostly all of his stories were influenced by the 1st World War, where he

had been a front-soldier. He often describes the life of simple people by turning it

dramatically into an ethical and political position.

After this experience, he went to Cambridge studying history, politics and

literature. In 1929, he made a breakthrough with his novel, The Good

Companions. In An Inspectors Calls (written right after the 2nd World War 1945),

he shows his attitude towards human socialism. His work show typical criticism

towards all antisocial attitudes, such as greed and inconsiderate power struggle.

Source :

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Maranatha Christian University 1

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

J.B. Priestley is best known as an ”all-round writer,” which means that he

wrote all different sorts of literature. He wrote a novel, The Good Companions in

1929. He also wrote a popular play, An Inspector Calls right after the World War

II in 1945. All of his stories were mostly influenced by World War I, where he

had been a front-soldier.

One of his plays, An Inspector Calls, is a detective story which really

catches my excitement. It uses simple language as well as having exciting plot.

This play tells about a detective who suddenly comes into the Birling‟s house and

accuses each of the family members for being responsible of murdering a girl.

Furthermore, the play An Inspector Calls makes me feel enthralled because the

ending is surprising. This is the interesting thing, which becomes the reason why

this play is chosen as both my reading and the source of my analysis. I am certain

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Maranatha Christian University 2

elements of plot in this play. These elements of plot (suspense, surprise and

artistic unity) make the readers always keep reading the play until the end.

Based on Perrine‟s theory, there are three laws of plot in which the play or

novel must fulfill to be a good play or novel. The first is suspense, which is “the

quality in a story that makes the reader ask, „What‟s going to happen next?‟ and

impels him to read on to find the answer to these questions” (Perrine 45). The

second is surprise, which is “proportional to the unexpectedness of what happens;

it becomes pronounced when the story departs radically from our expectation”

(Perrine 47). While it is said that the last element is artistic unity which, “… is

essential to a good plot; nothing irrelevant that does not contribute to the total

meaning; nothing that is there only for its own sake or its own excitement”

(Reuben).

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEMS

1. Which events act as suspense in the play?

2. Which events act as surprise in the play?

3. How do the suspense and surprise create artistic unity in the play?

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

1. To identify the events that act as suspense in the play.

2. To identify the events that act as surprise in the play.

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Maranatha Christian University 3

METHOD OF RESEARCH

I use library research for my thesis, first by reading An Inspector Calls as

the primary text. Second, I also read as well as compile some data from the

Internet so as to support my analysis of suspense, surprise, and artistic unity of the

novel. Finally, I make some conclusion from my analysis.

THE ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS

This thesis consists of three chapters, preceded by Abstract, Table of

Content and Acknowledgments. The first chapter is the Introduction, which

consists of the Background of the Study, the Statement of the Problems, the

Purpose of the Study, the Method of Research, and the Organization of the Thesis.

The second chapter is the Analysis of elements of plot in J.B. Priestley‟s An

Inspector Calls. The third chapter is the Conclusion, followed by Bibliography

and Appendices, which contain the Synopsis of the Play and the Biography of the

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14 Maranatha Christian University

CHAPTER THREE

CONCLUSION

After having analysed the elements of plot in An Inspector Calls, I can

conclude that J.B. Priestley is a great detective playright due to the fact that he

succeeds not only in producing a good story which makes the readers feel satisfied

after having read the play, but also in creating the elements of suspense, surprise,

and artistic unity so perfectly that these elements make the story become interesting

to read.

Most of the elements of suspense in J.B. Priestley’s An Inspector Calls are

full of mysteries so as to make the readers wonder as well as question about both the

connection of each character and the plot of the story itself. The readers may ask

what kind of connection of each Birling family has with the suicide girl and who

Goole really is. Not only does the suspense make the readers feel anxious about

what will happen next, but it also makes the readers feel that they are brought into

the story and experience the story as though they are the part of characters in the

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15 Maranatha Christian University The second element, which is surprise, is so great that it makes the readers

feel shocked by some events due to the fact that they appear unexpectedly and

unpredictably in the story. Those events show very unusual and strange things so

that the readers will be surprised, for example when Goole interrogates each of the

Birling family members, it is revealed that each family member knows the suicide

girl.

Based on my analysis about suspense and surprise above, I believe that

suspense and surprise are linked together to make artistic unity so that the plot in the

story will be well-connected. J.B. Priestley puts suspense as well as surprise in the

right order and interestingly gives the readers interesting unexpected events in order

for the readers to enjoy the play and not to feel bored in reading until the end of the

story. In other words, the three elements in An Inspector Calls are related to one

another to make the story easily understood.

Generally, in a detective novel, suspense is the most important element

because the purpose of a detective novel is to make the readers feel the curiosity in

their minds and thoughts. Then, when the readers are trapped in the suspense, they

are turned into the unexpected results which make them feel surprised. On account

of that, the artistic unity appears as the result of the strong collaboration of suspense

and surprise in the story so as to make a good story. Obviously, the example can be

seen through the play, An Inspector Calls. At first, the readers do not know what

connection that the Birling family and the suicide girl is. The readers only know that

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16 Maranatha Christian University interrogates them, all the Birling family members know the suicide girl. The readers

wonder why the rich and respectable family as the Birling family has a connection

with the suicide girl and what their connection is. Then, the readers feel surprised

through the statement of Inspector Goole when he interrogates each of the Birling

family members.

Based on my analysis of suspense and surprise in the novel, I find that the

element of suspense in the play, An Inspector Calls, is better than the element of

surprise due to the fact that it makes the readers feel curious when reading the story.

However, the element of surprise in this play is also very thorough to support the

element of suspense that it makes the readers feel surprised after they know the facts

which they never expect before.

Based on the reasons above, I conclude that J.B. Priestley is successful in

uniting the elements of suspense, surprise and artistic unity into the plot of the

story so that it becomes relevant and exciting to read, for the simple reason that

the three elements of plot are well blended in the plot of the story. It is not

surprising that An Inspector Calls turns out to be one of J.B. Priestley most

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Maranatha Christian University 17

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary Text

Priestley, J.B. An Inspector Calls. London: William Heinemann Ltd, 1947.

References

Internet sources

Priestley. An Inspector Calls. 20 Mar. 2009.

<http://www.cdrnet.ch/kb/data /EN_Priestley.asp>

Reuben, Paul P. "PAL: Appendix G: Elements of Fiction." 4 Feb. 2008. PAL: Perspectives in American Literature- A Research and Reference Guide. 28 Mar. 2009.

<http://web.csustan.edu/english/reuben/pal/append/axg.html>

Wilson Mike.”Chemainus Theatre Festival The Season An Inspector Calls”.12 Nov. Vancouver. 13 Apr. 2009.

<http://www.chemainustheatrefestival.ca/season_calls.html>

Books

Kenney, William. How to Analyse Fiction. New York: Monarch Press, 1966.

Referensi

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