The Birling family are turned against each other by the Inspector’s questions. The older Birlings are all too quick to condemn the actions of the younger ones, while defending their own with very poor excuses. Mr. Birling feels he was “quite justified” in firing Eva from the factory for starting a movement for higher wages. Sheila is unsettled by her father’s view of his employees; unlike Mr. Birling’s perspective of them as “cheap labour,” she sees them as fellow “people,” regardless of the social class system in place at the time. The Inspector influences the younger Birlings’ mindset towards a feeling of community and caring before they are corrupted by their parents’ philosophy of “every man for himself.” Sheila and Eric “want to help [the Inspector]” in making their parents confession of their involvement with Eva. Mr. Birling is never remorseful throughout the entire play; he cares only of his supposed “knighthood in the next Honours List.” This is laughable to both the audience and the characters; Birling is a man who can feel no compassion for others because, according to him, he is a “hard-headed business man” who has neither time nor concern for anybody below himself. His values are directly attacked by the Inspector, who feels that “public men have responsibilities as well as privileges.”
The Inspector is used to deliver a warning to not only the Birling family but to the audience as well. He wishes to save mankind from the “fire and blood and anguish,” the two World Wars, that will befall them if they continue with the manner they have. The Birling family is used to represent the world as a whole; Mr. & Mrs. Birling representing the older generation, and Eric & Sheila representing the younger generation. The fact that Eric and Sheila learn from their mistakes shows that the younger generation can learn from the mistakes of the older, and avoid them. Sheila points out “you don’t seem to have learned anything” to her parents, emphasising the point that the older generation’s minds are set and closed, while the younger can be influenced. This is represented by Sheila and Eric staying outside of the rebuilt house. The Inspector represents the process of education, teaching the young Birlings the right way to view their community. He warns the older Birlings that “if [you] will not learn that lesson, [you] will be taught in fire and blood and anguish.” This is a very thought-provoking play; the audience is made to think about how they act, and if they need to change their behaviour towards their fellow man.
J. B. Priestly uses the Inspector to speak his own personal views. Priestly wrote the play after the world had been shattered by the fires of two of the worst wars in history, and he felt to prevent another, mankind had to change how they treat others. Priestly makes references to disastrous events of the time period at the start with Mr. Birling, who believes “there will be peace and prosperity and rapid progress everywhere – except of course in Russia, which will always be behind, naturally.” Speaking in 1912, the audience in 1945 would have found this laughable, because this man is clearly blind to the workings of the world. There were two World Wars, and Russia’s economy and industrial sector accelerated massively. The Inspector educates the Birlings on how to behave so as to avoid conflict, just as Priestley wants to teach the world through his play.
Towards the end of the play, it is revealed that there is no such Inspector on the police force. The older Birlings believe that this means that they’re “all nice people now,” however the younger ones remind them that even if no girl has died on this night, all the characters still did what they did. The Inspector’s actual identity remains a mystery, however to the audience and the younger Birlings this doesn’t matter. “It doesn’t matter who made us confess, we still did what we did.” As Eric states, even if he wasn’t a real police inspector, “he was our police inspector all right.” Regardless of who he is, the Inspector did his duty and made the younger Birlings see the light. His identity is best left a mystery, however the director of the National Theatre production believes the Inspector is a time traveller from during the Second World War, come back to warn them of the horrors that await them. This is supported by the Inspector’s apparel in the play – he is dressed in 1940s police attire while the play is set in 1912. The front of the set seems to be a 1940s street during the Blitz; air-raid sirens sound and anti-aircraft cannons can be heard firing at what are presumably German bombers. The Inspector stays in this part of the stage. The back is the Birlings’ ‘house, set in 1912, where the Birlings stay until they come down to the Inspector’s level, representing them no longer seeing themselves as superior to the Inspector, possibly to show they are not afraid of him. The collapse of the house after the Inspector’s departure represents the Birlings’ morals and views being destroyed by the Inspector. However, when Gerald informs them that no girl has died, the house reverts to its former state and Mr. Birling, Mrs. Birling, and Gerald begin collecting their possessions, and return home. Eric and Sheila stay outside. This is to emphasise that they cannot return to their old ways like the rest of the family after they know what they have done. The Inspector’s identity of a time-traveller is supported by the appearance of a crowd of characters all dressed in 1940’s clothes. They stare at what is happening, never moving, never speaking. These “silent witnesses” represent the people of the future who look back on past events and judge. The Inspector’s actions could represent what we would all like to do: go into the past and try to prevent the horrible events of history from happening.
