Mr. Birling even believes that marriage is a commercial arrangement as is show when he includes his business matters in his own daughter’s engagement.
‘Now you’ve brought us together, and perhaps we may look forward to the time when Crofts and Birlings are no longer competing but are working together – for lower costs and higher prices.’
Birling is a Capitalist rather than a Socialist as he say that
‘But by the way some of these cranks talk and write now, you’d think everybody has to look after everybody else.’
He also makes another comment that the socialists will not carry on very long
‘I tell you, by that time you’ll be living in a world that’ll have forgotten all these Capital versus Labour agitations and all these silly little war scares.’
Labour refers to people that are fighting for rights for everyday people like factory workers and lower-class people. He is self-centred and thinks that,
‘A man has to make his own way - has to look after himself’
but he does think of himself also as a family man and quickly rushes in to say
‘And his family too, of course,’
Mr. Birling is not concerned with what he has and fairly frequently says what he thinks about people and countries
‘There’ll be peace and prosperity and rapid progress everywhere – except of course in Russia, which will always be behindhand naturally.’
He thinks that he knows what is happening around the world and thinks he can predict the future
‘Why, a friend of mine went over this new liner last week – the Titanic – she sails next week – forty-six thousand eight hundred tons – New York in five days – and every luxury – and unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable.’
This creates irony for the audience, as they already know that the Titanic sank on her first voyage. This shows that he is optimistic and trusts technology because of the
‘Rapid progress everywhere’.
He is an Ex Lord-Major and is still very proud of his status as he does bring the matter into many of his conversations. He also brags about people he knows
‘Perhaps I ought to explain first that this is Mr. Gerald Croft – the son of Sir George Croft – you know, Crofts limited.’
Birling tries to put Inspector Google in his place by using his position in society
‘So I know the Brumley police officers pretty well’
he also uses name dropping to intimidate Google
‘How do you get on with our Chief Constable, Colonel Roberts?’
Birling is jolly and laughs a lot he is extremely talkative as Mrs. Sybil Birling has to tell him to be quiet
‘I know I’m getting carried away again’.
Birling believes he is reasonable to his workers as he pays them
‘No more and no less than the going rate’.
Whereas to the audience he seems obstinate as he turns down workers that ask for a small rise in their wages as he assumes it’s his duty
‘To keep costs down and prices high.’
Sheila Birling is referred to constantly by her parents as being impressionable as they still regard he as a child and not as the young woman that she is. Sheila resents this and ends up telling her parents
‘I’m not a child, don’t forget. I’ve a right to know.’
When Sheila was remembering the shop argument she shows a side to her that is vain and spiteful, this is put across by the way she says she couldn’t feel sorry for Eva smith. Although later on in the play Sheila seems the most regretful out of her family and says that her along with her family should start behaving better towards others, even if they are of a lower class or status, and that they should learn from the mistakes which they made. The audience does most definitely not see Sheila as having the same cold-blooded attitudes as her parents. Sheila is probably the most honest person in her family, and admits guilt as soon as she is investigated instead of putting a wall up as her parents do. Sheila can be blunt
‘You’re squiffy’
and she criticises the other characters in the play, especially her own father
‘But these girls aren’t cheap labour-they’re people’
Throughout the play Sheila seems to be her family’s conscience.
