characters are a mixture of Capitalist's and Socialist's, Mr Birling being
a self made upper-class Capitalist, his wife also has great belief in the
family name, and works hard to keep a good reputation for herself and her
family. The secretive but most sympathetic of the Birling's is Eric their
son, who has a great deal to do with the Suicide of Eva Smith. Eric's
sister is Sheila who gets on well with Eric but seems rather spoilt.
Another key member in the play is Sheila's fiancee Gerald Croft who is
another wealthy industrialist, although Gerald has inherited his wealth
unlike Birling. Each of these people in turn is implicated in Eva
Smith's death. Priestley puts his hope and his beliefs in Sheila and
Eric, whose consciences have not yet been destroyed by their rich mother
and father. Priestly's modern equal class-consciousness is in evidence
too, and a good example to show how the class difference really matters in
Birling's household is how the Birling's treat the maid. She is always
there for the family, for example during the late evening the family make
reference to her when Gerald returns from his stroll. Mr Birling in a
state of distress is angered when the doorbell rings and is extremely
annoyed that he may have to answer the door. But the cold hearted Mrs
Birling had told Edna to wait until the inspector had left just so that
she could make the family a pot of tea. "Mrs Birling- No don't go I told
Edna to wait up to make us some tea" When Edna returned with Gerald she
was shown no gratitude. They show no respect for her. But just when you
think the drama will end, it delivers further surprises. The play becomes
more interesting and clear as it goes on, As the characters become drawn
into manipulative control of the inspector and are forced out of their
upper-class shells. As the story continues Priestly shows how
Capitalists can use their wealth over the Poor working-class people like
Eva Smith, all of these incidents lead to Eva's suicide, the first issue
being when Birling sacks Eva because she asked for a pay rise. Birling
sacks her to be made an example of and to show that he is not willing to
share a few pence of his wealth with the lower-class. During the whole
play Priestly writes so that you feel sympathetic towards Eva, he does
this to make you feel sorry, not just for Eva but for all of the
working-class people of England during that period in time. Priestly
is a strong Socialist and shows this by portraying the Birling's as a
ruthless family. Priestly cleverly uses Eric and Gerald in the play, as
they both sleep with Eva Smith, thus causing a family discrase because
they had been with someone from a lower-class. Which although now would
not even be thought of, but in 1912 scandal and discrase would have been
brought on to any family in the Birling's situation. I think that
because maybe Priestly despises the capitalist's a little he makes fun of
the Birling family, a good of example of this is how Mrs Birling decides
to blame somebody other than her family for the whole suicide, she blames
it on the father of Eva's child. This made her feel good about herself
until she found out that Eric her son was the father of the child
therefore making her the grandmother of the child. So after all Mrs
Birling only brought more shame onto the family. "Mrs Birling- I blame
the young man who was the father of the child she was going to have, if as
she said, he didn't belong to her class, and was some drunken young idler,
then that's all the more reason why he shouldn't escape." Notice how Mrs
Birling makes reference to classes herself, she totally blames the young
man until she finds out that he is her son, then she sees things in a
different way. I think the most important speech in the whole play is
as follows: "Inspector- Just remember this. One Eva Smith has gone but
there are millions and millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths
still left with us, with their lives, their hopes and fears, their
suffering and chance of happiness, all intertwined with our lives, with
what we think, say, and do. We don't live alone. We are 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 that lesson, then they will be taught it
in fire and blood and anguish. Good Night." I think that the speech
sums up all of Priestly's views he uses the Inspector to try and get the
message across to all of mankind about how we should learn how to live
equally and if we do not then the world will be a painful place for
millions of lower-class people like Eva Smith. He uses the abrupt ending
to make the reader think about the situation. I think that J.B.
Priestly had very strong views about equal rights and he uses the
characters very well to get across his viewpoint all over the world
