At the beginning of Act 1 the Birling's are enjoying a meal. The dialogue reveals that the family does not care about anyone but themselves. Arthur Birling believes `a man has to make his own way, has to look after himself and his family too'.
Birling launches into a speech on community, he starts saying `the ways some of these cranks talk and write now you'd think everyone has to look after everybody else, as if we were all mixed up together like bees in a hive- community and all that nonsense'. The Inspector enters at this point because he is there to disprove Birling's point.
Focusing particularly on Arthur Birling & Inspector Goole Show how Priestly uses character to convey his opinions & attitudes!
Priestly wanted the Inspector to appear to be intimidating. `He wasn't a big man but he creates at once an impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness'. Omniscient and omnipotent the mysterious Inspector Goole persuades the Birling's to confess to their crimes. Even his name has ghostly connotations; he seems to know everything he is in control. It's almost as though he knows the future.
Inspector Goole's dress sets him apart from the Birling's. They are dressed to impress. `All five are in evening dress of the period, the men in tails and white ties, not dinner jackets'. The women wear long formal dresses. The Inspector by contrast is dressed in a `plain darkish suit of the period'. He is dressed smartly but he is not concerned with status and appearance.
Mr. Birling believes its every man for himself, to look after number one, and not to care for poor people to forget about community. He is very sexist as he tries to hide the truth form his family particularly from Sheila. He does this because he believes young girls like Sheila should be shielded from horrible things like death, because women are too weak to cope with harsh reality but he believes men can.
Birling attempts to use status and power to influence the Inspector. He was forever reminding him that he was an ex mayor and a magistrate. He becomes extremely angry when he is accused of being involved with Eva's death.
When the truth comes out about Eric getting Eva pregnant and stealing money, Birling is more worried what people will say when it gets out, `you've confessed to theft, and now he knows all about it, and he can bring it out at the inquest'. The Birling's are a respectable family, it should be kept that way. He doesn't think that Eric's problems could be partly his fault and that his drinking problem is a cry for help.
Focusing particularly on Arthur Birling & Inspector Goole Show how Priestly uses character to convey his opinions & attitudes!
When it turns out that everything could be a hoax. Birling pretends nothing has happened. He hasn't learnt a lesson at all, he thinks if he pretends life is the same and that everything is normal no one will notice anything is wrong. His beliefs have not changed even after that has happened.
The Inspectors final speech was that `we are all 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 in fire, blood and anguish'. The Inspector represents the voice of Priestly. He believes in community and if we don't work together then disaster is inevitable. Priestly's main aim in the play was to show what would happen if we didn't work together as a community. The play is there to highlight the problems of class divide, he wanted his audiences to learn something from his plays.
The moral of `An Inspector Calls' is that no matter what class we are we are all equal and that we must work together. Priestly wanted to get this moral across, I think he did, but unfortunately there will always be people like the Birling's.
