In the play, Arthur Birling is also portrayed as a character that seems ‘to think’ he knows it all, especially when he is talking to the people that are younger than him, hence his sons, Eric and Gerald - his future son-in-law. He pushes his age; his experiences and his opinion at every chance he gets which is evident again in Act one. His discussion on the ‘up coming war’ prompted by Eric leads to Birling’s stating ‘You’ve a lot to learn yet’ aimed specifically at his son and ‘as a hard-headed, practical man of business…that there isn’t a chance of war’ showing that as a business man he is more in the know than any other person. Birling always praise’s himself, at every opportunity he can, for the work he did before he became successful, stressing to the ‘youngsters (Eric and Gerald)’ how much experience he has. He also sees himself as a ‘hard-headed, practical man of business’ and finds everything a ‘business venture or opportunity’
Arthur Birling’s portrays himself as ‘living comfortably’. Being a prosperous manufacturer he has sufficient wealth. In Act one, the scene suggests a cosy and comfortable atmosphere with a sense of excitement for the family, his daughter’s engagement to a wealthy, well-bred young man. The intimate family gathering is celebrated with champagne; Port served in a decanter (maybe crystal) and cigars for the men of the household kept in a cigar box. The setting is clearly shown when his wife and children leave Arthur and Gerald alone. The offering of a ‘Cigar’ to Gerald who politely declines the offer, which leads Arthur to state ‘you don’t know what you’re missing’, indicates that a good cigar is smoked after a meal by a prosperous businessman. In turn, Arthur’s character constantly pushes his experience into the faces of people younger than him.
The character portrayed as Arthur Birling in the play is that of an extremely overbearing and somewhat bossy person. This is evident through his relationships with his wife, daughter and son and to some extent with Gerald and the Inspector. He sees himself as the provider; a man with far more experience than everyone else put together in the household and always patting himself on the back for being a ‘hard-headed business man!’ During his discussion with Eric and Gerald on the issue about women and clothing, Arthur quickly brings the whole situation to himself. He states that ‘you don’t know what boys get up to these days’ aiming clearly at the two young men sitting beside him. ‘They have more money to spend and time to spare than I had when I was Eric’s age’
These comments suggest that Birling sees his own son as a lay-about who spends his money and has nothing better to do; this has in effect caused some problem between father and son. Being a brutally honest and out spoken man, Birling goes on to praise himself once again, ‘they worked us hard and kept us short of cash’ which states that men these days work little or less and that the work is much easier than in Birling’s days. Which in turn also shows how self-satisfied this man is. He goes on to making several other points indicating his experiences to the two young men clearly stating that it isn’t a ‘lecture’ for the men. Arthur Birling’s capitalist nature can be observed in several scenes within this play. In this instance, his attitude of how working men have to ‘look after himself first and then his family – if he has one’ and then goes on to saying that ‘some cranks and writers (Labour) think that everybody has to look after everybody else, as if we were all mixed up like bees in a hive – community and all that nonsense’ indicates the capitalist within the character – Arthur Birling. Hence, in Arthur Birling’s ‘good hard school of experience’ a ‘man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own’
How he is used to convey the author’s views:
Through the portrayal of Arthur Birling as a dedicated capitalist, J.B Priestley has clearly defined how much reservation he has against such people. The character is that of a man with little or no compassion for his fellow workers, especially those people of ‘low status in society’ or ‘manual workers’ within his company. He feels that ‘rich should get richer and the poor should remain basically the same’. In Birling’s case people of low status or manual workers cannot ask for more money, they should be satisfied with the money they are getting.
Progress is also seen in the same manner by the character. He sees his own and every other country in the world progressing apart from Russia, which according to Birling is ‘behindhand’ due to it being a communist country.
The character’s personality (as a capitalist) is further exposed in his lack of feelings towards his family members. Every opportunity is seen as a ‘profit through gain venture’. The celebration of his daughter’s engagement to the wealthy, well-bred young man, Gerald is seen as a ‘business opportunity’. Arthur expresses that the marriage between his daughter Sheila and Gerald will enable Birling and Crofts to expand.
The social/historical values he represents:
Arthur Birling’s character within this play expresses clearly that ‘the rich should stay rich and the poor should remain poor’. Being obviously from an upper middle class himself, Birling’s feels that the social and class barriers within the society can not be passed. In his opinion, Russia is seen as a ‘behindhand’ country. As a communist country everyone is seen as equal in Russia. For Arthur this is basically ‘wrong’, as poor could never be equal to the upper or middle classes in society. From Birling’s point of view every other country is progressing or developing, ‘in a year or two we’ll have aeroplanes that will be able to go anywhere’ he states to the two young men. He then goes on, speaking about the advancement in the automobile industry and the launch of the Titanic.
Birling’s feelings and capitalist attitude is expressed again in his reaction to the death of one of his ‘low paid employees’ Eva Smith. He disagrees with the creation of the ‘Trade Unions’, where a ‘group of individuals’ cannot in Birling’s opinion ‘encourage people to strike’ and ‘ask for more pay and equality’. Seeing that his workers were starting to stand up to Birling, he decided to sack the small number of Unionists, which clearly shows his uncaring employer attitude towards his workers. By sacking these people Birling keeps the ‘labour cost down’.
