Sparks

if the live wire comes loose and touches the metal case
of my toaster then the current flows from the generator down the live
wire , through the metal case, through the earth wire to ground,
through the ground back to the generator where it goes up the earth
wire there to neutral ?

when the neutral wire touches the metal case is the circuit simply
totally grounded with the neutral wire at the same potential as the
ground to which its connected ?