Then on page 7, he talks about the Titanic being unsinkable:
“…New York in five days - and every luxury – and unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable.”
And the future in general:
“in 1940……and I tell you, by that time you will have forgotten all this Capital versus Labour agitations and all these silly little war scares. There’ll be peace and prosperity…”
His refusal to consider that in fact he might be wrong when he doesn’t let Eric interrupt.
“Yes, I know – but still -”
These all show his arrogance and over-confidence. The last quotation also shows that he knows that as his father, he can stop Eric from saying anything. This is a privilege. However, he doesn’t think he has a responsibility to let Eric say what he thinks. They are also an example of dramatic irony, because we know something the actors don’t know, that actually the Titanic did sink and that there was war in the 1940’s. As we, the readers know this all wrong it could make us wonder whether some, possibly all the rest of what he says and does is wrong. Also during his speech on page 4, he talks about “lower costs and higher prices”, which is an example of layers of meaning, as it could be taken as good business. Or, it could be taken to show his greed and lack of thoughts for his children because he is thinking more about the gains business wise than family life and how his children do in life. This means he obviously feels responsibility for himself and Birling and Company. This is also shown when on page 6 when talks about the responsibilities of the employer class:
“to see that our interests – and the interests of Capital – are properly protected.”
So in a way he does have a sense of responsibility. Then later on, when on page 9, Birling also says to Eric and Gerald “a man has to make his own way – has to look after himself”, and then on page 10, “the way some of these cranks talk and write now, you’d think everybody has to look after everyone else, as if we were all mixed up together like bees in a hive – community and all that nonsense.” Priestley uses him as an example of what is happening in the world at the time and what he wants to get rid of: Privileged people not showing any responsibility for others. When we see Birling is doing exactly the opposite of what Priestley (via the Inspector) wants we could react in many ways, we might dislike him, we might consider that everything he says is wrong, or some people might have sympathy for him as he is only saying what the majority of people thought at that time.
Mr Birling is also a good example of effects of action, because in sacking Eva Smith, he started her journey to “the slab”. He didn’t think of what might happen in the future, all he cared about was himself at that moment.
In sacking Eva Smith, Birling feels he is being a responsible manager, because he is sacking ringleaders who cause trouble. This shows he does have a sense of responsibility but it is not necessarily always correct.
The first sign that Mr Birling does not take responsibility for Eva Smith’s death is on page 14:
“If we were all responsible for everything that happened to everybody we’d had anything to do with, it would be very awkward.”
Then on page 15, the inspector makes it very clear that he thought Birling acted irresponsibly:
“It’s better to ask for the earth than to take it.”
Mr Birling says a few things which tell us this play was set in 1912. Firstly, on page 7, he says about the Titanic,
“The Titanic – She sails next week…”
Secondly, when talking about workers Mr Birling says:
“Cheap Labour” and “It’s a free country”
This shows there is no minimum wage. It could also be taken to show that he doesn’t feel he has any responsibility for his workers as they are just “cheap labour”.
Thirdly, he talks about the Labour party being socialists on the far left wing which shows that it is set before the time when it was written. Lastly, we know it is before the wars because Priestley uses dramatic irony in Birling saying on page
6: “there isn’t a chance of war”.
The Inspector also gives us a clue that the play is set before the war and that is when in his valedictory speech on page 56, when he says,
“if men will not learn this lesson, they will be taught in blood and fire and anguish.”
This is a reference by Priestley to World War 1.
The Inspector is completely the opposite of Mr Birling; Priestley uses the inspector as his mouthpiece to say what he believes to be right. In his valedictory speech he says,
“There are millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths still left with us…all intertwined with our lives,”
This is firstly a cross reference with Mr Birling’s talk about “bees in a hive”, secondly it is part of his didactic aim as it is telling people they still have another chance and they need to do better next time. Lastly it demonstrates a layer of meaning with the theme of Mr Birling’s speech earlier on in the play. The inspector puts the point across very bluntly, when on page 41, he is talking to Mrs Birling and being interrupted by Mr Birling:
“public men have responsibilities as well as privileges.”
The religious side of the Inspector’s message is the fact that he is forgiving them for their sins like God forgives us for our sins and that he is making them go through the catholic sequence of confession for their sins of envy, greed, prejudice and adultery. He forces them all to confess, and then he manages to get Sheila to repent. Finally their penance is living with the guilt.
Mrs Birling is in a position on the Brumley women’s charity organisation, which should be taken by somebody who shows responsibility for others. She probably does recognise her responsibility for others at times, but this time she let her prejudice block her judgement too easily. On page 43
“First she called herself Mrs Birling” and “That prejudiced me against her case”
And then on page 44,
“and so I used my influence to have it refused”
Mrs Birling doesn’t accept responsibility for what has happened and on page 45, she tries to shift the blame away from herself.
“go and look for the father, it’s his responsibility”
So even though she has the money to help someone else, she doesn’t feel it is her responsibility. However this shows that she does have a sense of responsibility because she knows it is mainly the father’s responsibility.
In doing this Mrs Birling is again trying to shift the blame away from herself because she doesn’t feel she is responsible for Eva Smith’s death.
“I accept no blame for it at all”
At the end of act two, Priestley uses Mrs Birling in a dramatic device to emphasise his point that people have a responsibility for others. In this build up of melodrama on page 47, Priestley uses Mrs Birling to condemn her own son, because she believes you should expose the person who is responsible for the action.
“Secondly I blame the young man who was the father…he should be made an example of. If the girl’s death is due to anybody, then it’s due to him.”
Mrs Birling is also an example of effects of action, because she didn’t give Eva Smith any help or money, it ultimately drove her to her suicide.