The character of Arthur Birling in the play is that of a very shrewd, selfish and hard-headed businessman. He has very defined views on life and other people. For example, he says, “…if you don’t come down sharply on these people, they’d soon be asking for the earth.”
Mr. Birling is extremely self-centred and he feels that he has nothing to do with the community. We know this when he says things like, “a man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own.”
The repetition of the word “own” shows that he is too absorbed in himself. He isn’t even concerned about the workers in his factory leave alone the society. We know this because he says, “we were paying the usual rates and if they didn’t like those rates, they could go work somewhere else.”
All through the play we can see that the character of Birling completely opposes the character of the so-called inspector Goole. Also, we can see that Priestley is a socialist and he portrays it through the character of the inspector. The inspector says that there are numerous people like Eva smith to whom injustice is done - “…there are millions and millions of Eva smiths and john Smiths …with their lives, their hopes and their fears.”
The last speech of the so-called inspector has very strong dialogues. Through the use of those dialogues we find out that Priestley is totally against people like Arthur Birling and he believes that we are all dependent as well as responsible for each other.
In this play we can see that the inspector gets very easily to the truth. One of the reasons why no one could avoid his questions or lie to him was probably because he already knew everything. He just wanted the characters to confess directly to him and come face-to-face with the truth.
Another thing that the inspector did to make the characters surrender to him was by making them feel guilty. He does this by describing all the horrendous facts in too much detail. For example- “…she’d swallowed a lot of disinfectant. Burnt her insides out of course” or “she was in great agony.”
He also tries to use this unpleasant imagery towards the end of the play when he says, “… the time will soon come when , if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire, blood and anguish.”
As a result of inspector Goole's visit, the younger generation such as Eric and Sheila seemed to have changed and grown as persons. They both are quite embarrassed of themselves as well as their parents. We know that this is not going to be easy for Sheila to forget and she also doesn’t want the other characters to forget the incident and act normal because she says, “I’m ashamed of it. But you’re beginning to pretend all over again that nothing much has happened.” Consequently, Eric says, “It’s all what happened to the girl and what we did to her that matters.”
On the contrary, since the so-called inspector left Mr. and Mrs. Birling behaved very callously and as if nothing had happened. All they’re bothered about is that if the inspector opens his mouth and unveils their secrets, their reputation will be spoiled. To stop this from happening, he even tried offering money to the inspector- “Look inspector-I’d give thousands-yes thousands—”
Conversely, being a true socialist and the voice of Priestley, the inspector refuses and says, “You’re offering money at the wrong time Mr. Birling.”
At the end of the play, the Birlings get a phone call in which someone informs them about a girl died on her way to the infirmary after swallowing strong disinfectant. This is a major twist in the story through which we know that Priestley is trying to say that you can never run from your conscience. Your mistakes will keep haunting you till you learn from them.
This time when the inspector calls on the door of the Birling household, Sheila and Eric are more likely to give in than Mr. or Mrs. Birling. This also tells us that in the future you wouldn’t expect Sheila, Eric or Gerald to repeat their mistakes and become more conscientious people. This however does not go for Mr. and Mrs. Birling who still haven’t realised their mistakes.
Also, by the end of the play, we can see that Sheila has changed from an arrogant, immature and naïve girl to a more grown-up and sensible individual. She doesn’t deny her mistakes anymore and takes full responsibility for them. She says, “I behaved badly too. I know I did. I’m ashamed of it.”
Eric has changed from a drunk, foolish and negligent young boy to a more thoughtful and earnest person. It is very evident that he’s learnt his lesson and shows bitterness towards his parents. He says, “I’m ashamed of you aswell – yes both of you.”
Another message that Priestley might be trying to convey here could be that the younger generation are a hope for the future not the older people. He might have done this to influence the younger generation to be socialists and know how to respect and behave with people who need them.
