My characters have a father son relationship. And they were both involved in Eva smith’s life.
Mr. Birling was Eva smith’s employer, boss, and sacked her because she tried to cause a strike, for more wages.
Eric on the other hand was having a sexual relationship with Eva and only l had lust for her not love.
Near the end of the story Eric actually confesses that he stole money off his father to give to Eva because she had nothing to live on and resorted to prostitution.
Both birlings used Eva for their’ own benefit and Eric felt guilty when he revealed it to the false inspector.
The false inspector plot was very cunning and carefully planned by J.B. Priestly to leave the audience hanging in the end and wondering what happened.
The whole play was about the inspector catching out the birling family for something they didn’t even do.
But the real question everyone who has read the play wants to know is who is the inspector????
It is a mystery and J.B. Priestly never revealed it.
Many theories are that the inspector was a ghost, a clever murderer/rapist, and the voice of god.
But would a rapist or murderer really say that speech near the end?
The inspector’s speech basically tells us the moral of the story.
He talks about being punished in the afterlife,” and I tell you that time will come when, if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish.”
So maybe the inspector could have been a priest?
All we know is that the inspector convinced the birlings that he was a real inspector and got them to confess everything.
Now the inspector may have been a fraud but Mr. birling’ s reactions to him were all as if he were a real inspector.
He was thunderstruck when he heard all the accusations about everyone else but felt determined to put up a fight when the inspector threw accusations at him.
He always wanted to be right and would not stop ranting on and on when the facts proved him wrong.
He was also one of a few who decided to forget everything when they had come to a decision that the inspector was a fake.
Unlike his son Eric who actually still felt guilty and ashamed after confessing all those things even to an impostor. Eric had admitted to stealing money from his father and immediately after they sussed out the inspector was a fraud Mr. Birling demanded he pay it back.
All Mr. Birling cared about was his money his integrity and honour and his superior class over others.
His higher classing was the most important to him though; because his daughter was going to marry and top class man who’s parents were lords, so while he was talking gibberish at the table in the beginning of the play he did mention that he was going to be knighted.
Mr. Birling showed no care for Eva smith and tried to forget the whole thing after the inspector had left.
He fired her for trying to take more of his money away from him and give ideas to other servants in the house
I.e. Edna.
Mr. Birling was very quick to insult others and make remarks about all the rest of his family when accusations about them, which sounded absurd, were quite true.
But when the tables turned on him he didn’t like it and tried to always stay on top of things and make himself more superior. But in the long run he is not the most superior human in the household, Mrs. Birling is.
Eric on the other hand let everything out. He did not like what had happened and wanted to do the best he could to tell the truth even if it made him miserable.
He felt sorry for Eva smith and stole from his won father to keep her off the streets. But Eric wasn’t the only one who had offered Eva sex and money. Gerald croft was in there too. But the problem was that Gerald only had her for a mistress and Eva had fallen in love with him.
She thought that Gerald was her savoir and loved him for it. With Eric it was just a fling and because Eva had died pregnant Eric thinks it could be his child because all he did is have sex with her, unlike Gerald who put a roof over her head fed her and provided for her.
So Eric after the incident still felt guilty and owned up to everything, and Mr. Birling
was glad that he didn’t get caught out and his reputation wasn’t ruined.
Mr. Birling was one of those people who would say “ what would the neighbours think?”
He cared only about pride, integrity and honour.
When the inspector first came he acted like a friend like he knew the bloke.
But later realized that the inspector didn’t treat anyone specially because of their position in society.
Mr. Birling always reminded me of Harry potter’s uncle, large, loud and bossy.
Also birling like’s to suck up to people of a higher standard then him, like Gerald for example.
He kept talking about how well his business is doing, how high he is in society and what type of port he drinks.
Eric is always shy and stupid during the play. He is a perfect example of immature young man.
He is always rather drunk and quite unstable in the beginning wobbling about a lot and talking funny.
Because Eric and his sister are the youngest in the family they are the ones who learn the lesson in the end. The rest of the family are glad that they are not going to jail, but Sheila and Eric have been humiliated, Sheila has lost her marriage, Eric’s whole life is ruined for all the things he has done and he blames himself for everything and keeps stuttering sorry.
In the end of the play they have found out they have been fooled twice when they discover there is no inspector Goole working for the police station and secondly when they get the phone call saying that a young girl has committed suicide by dinking disinfectant and the police are sending an inspector over to ask them questions.
J.B. Priestly wanted to leave it like that, a shocking mystery, ‘who’s the inspector?’
He has cleverly written this play and it is still shown in theatres in London to this day.
Now like I said in the beginning this play was a morality play, and the moral of the play was in the inspector’s final speech.
“But just remember this. One Eva smith has gone- but there are millions and millions and millions of Eva smiths and john smiths still left with us, with their lives, their hopes, and fears, their suffering and chance of happiness, all intertwines with our lives, and what we think and say and do.
We don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other. And I tell you that the time will soon come when, if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish. Good night”