Priestley uses dramatic irony in order to expose Birling’s complacency on the future of Britain. He comments that ‘there isn’t a chance of war’. This is dramatic irony and because the play was set in 1912, but published in 1945, when an audience was watching the play it gave them the benefit of hindsight because they had just finished going through the Second World War. Mr. Birling shows that he too complacent for his own good and that he has a myopic view when he says, that the Titanic is ‘unsinkable’. This is also not true because it did happen. He is a typical capitalist and he comments, ‘I’m talking as a hard-headed, practical man of business. Priestley is satirizing Mr. Birling because he thinks that he is infallible even though most of comments are incorrect. He thinks he is always right and thinks his philosophy, ‘every man for himself’ is correct. He has a very narrow minded view of the world and has capitalist values. He mentions that ‘we shouldn’t let all the Bernard Shaw and H.G. Wellses do all the talking’. H.G Wells and Bernard Shaw were both socialists and Mr. Birling condemns the socialist values. This consists of a place being a community and equal with solidarity between one another. He condemns socialism and comments, ‘Birling is very hypocritical because he asks Gerald whether his mother thinks Sheila is good enough for him, socially. This is hypocritical because Mrs. Birling is a social superior to Mr. Birling. Birling shows more complacency when eh tells Gerald he that is going to get a knighthood soon. We can tell that he is being a social climber and is trying to associate himself with people of a higher class, including Gerald and his family. Complacency is exposed when Birling comments, ‘I gather there’s a very good chance of a knighthood – as long as we behave ourselves, don’t get into the police or start a scandal’ Gerald and Birling laugh at this complacently. There is irony to this comment because if all the things they did to Eva Smith were the cause of her death, a scandal would have begun. Birling is capitalist and condemns socialism and he mention, ‘You’d think everybody has to look after everybody else, as if we were all mixed up together like bees in a hive.’ He shows class snobbery when he says ‘all mixed up’ because he feels that there should always be class boundaries and he also has the philosophy ‘every man for himself’. This was the opposite of the Inspector’s message because the Inspector was a socialist and was all for equality. Mr. Birling feels that people shouldn’t help others less fortunate and is only has material prospects. He has a very myopic, blinkered view.
While he lectured Gerald and Eric, he called them ‘young fellows’. This gives us a feeling of how patronizing he is because Gerald and Eric are two grown men. Just before Birling was about to get to the conclusion of his lecture, the doorbell rang. The Inspector enters the scene and the light gets brighter. This represents that sense of guilt and responsibility for what they have done will shine on them. The Inspector interrogated Mr. Birling about the death of Eva Smith and if he knew who she was. Mr. Birling replied, ‘No. And I don’t see where I come into this’ he tried to take his name out of it. We can tell that Mr. Birling did not know who Eva Smith was because he did not care and he dehumanized his workers as money-making machines although they are individuals with feelings. The Inspector does not agree and says, ‘What happened to her then may have determined what happened to her afterwards, and what happened to her afterwards may have driven her to suicide. A chain of events.’ Clearly Birling still has not shown any sense of guilt or acknowledgement when he says, ‘Still, I can’t accept any responsibility’. Mr. Birling explains why he dismissed Eva Smith and says it was because she demanded a raise. This shows that he only wants maximum profit at the end of the day and does not really acre about his workers. The Inspector asks him why he refused; he is surprised and mentions, ‘Did you say why?’ he says this because he feels he is a social superior to the Inspector and that he should get more respect. He then asks why the Inspector is asking so many questions. The Inspector replies, ‘It is my duty to ask questions.’ Priestley is using the Inspector as a mouthpiece to express his socialist values in the play. Birling explained why he dismissed Eva Smith but Eric, has more socialist values and says that he should have kept her at the job. Birling then comments, ‘Rubbish! If you don’t come down sharply on some of these people, they’d soon be asking for the earth.’ The Inspector replied to Birling’s comment and says, ‘They might. But after all it’s better to ask for the earth than to take it.’ The Inspector is criticizing Mr. Birling’s morals and hinting his greed and his avarice. By the end of the play, Birling did not transform in any way and went back to a celebratory mood when Gerald told them Inspector Goole was a fake. This showed that he did not take in anything the Inspector had said. The Inspector had more of an impact on the younger generation (Eric and Sheila).
