Arthur, Gerald and Eric are talking when the Inspector arrives. The Inspector explains that the reason for him being hear is because a young girl has committed suicide and it is then revealed how each members of the same family contributed to it
Priestly has made Birling and his wife the mouth pieces of all the critics of his play. He also makes this authoritarian character learn absolutely nothing either as a father an employer or in a moral sense. Birling never shows any human sorrow or compassion for the dead girl with whom his family is so entwined. He does not look at himself to see how he could have been a better father. Worst of all he can only see a young girls death, for which his family has been largely responsible, as an obstacle to his knighthood. All he cares about is preserving his status in society, and covering up any scandal that could threaten it. He has no morals.
Arthur’s out-look in life both socially and in business, is that a man can be selfish for his own need. He is a selfish man who has a lot of money but does nothing to help the poor. He is also a bully and full of self – importance.
His view on his own importance leads him to:
- To try to use his social status to intimidate the Inspector
- To try to impose his will and authority on Eric and Sheila
- To be concerned about the effect of a social scandal on his chances of knighthood
When it was revealed to Arthur Birling, by the Inspector, that the young girl that has committed suicide was Eva Smith and that he had sacked her from his factory because she was asking for higher wage. His immediate reaction to Eva’s situation was unsympathetic. Mr Birling quickly informs to the Inspector that the reason he sacked her was because she was one of the ring leaders, who’d started trouble at the factory. He said that ‘this girl Eva Smith, was one of them. She’d had a lot to say - far too much - so she had to go”. From this comment it becomes obvious that Mr: Birling does not regret sacking Eva Smith and he appears as a typical, “hard headed businessman”, not caring about his workers needs, just about how much money they are making him and how little he has to pay them to work. As Mr: Birling tells his parts of his involvement in Eva’s death, he manages to tell it in a way that makes him seem fair and kind to his workers. However, this is just a cover up for his conscience and the Inspector and the audience can see this. In reality, he is greedy.
Mr: Birlings tries to use his influence as a highly placed local to put down and demoralise the Inspector. His attempts at this are immediately dismissed, as the Inspector does not seem to be intimidating in Mr Birling social status. Mr: Birling remarks that he was “an alderman for years- lord mayor two years ago…is still in the bench” in an attempt to show his importance. However the Inspector does not take any notice of this and continues with the investigation. {Every penny in his pocket counts, and he tries to make it seem that he feels that his workers deserve no more than the average pay, if that.}
Also it is implied that Arthur may have tried to bribe the Inspector; “perhaps you and I had better go and talk this over quietly in a corner”. This undoubtedly highlights that money seems to be centre of Mr Birling’s existence. He believes he can buy his way of this situation. For Arthur money is the solution everything. This also reinforces his character as a selfish and insensitive man.
During the interrogation we see that Arthur Birling is a heartless man who only cares about himself, we see that he is full of his own self- importance.
‘If you don’t come down sharply on some of these people, they’d soon be asking for he earth.’ This shows that Mr Birling is a heart less person with no consideration for others.
Later on in the play we see some change in Mr Birling character especially when he says ‘Look Inspector, I would give thousands-yes thousands” but it is obviously too late and yet again it is about the money.
When the Inspector reveals Eric’s involvement with Eve Smith, Mr Birling’s reaction is ‘I’ve got to cover this up as soon as I can’. This demonstrates that he does not care about Eric or how he is feeling but shows us that Mr Birling does not want to save or help Eric but to save himself from social scandal.
In the play we see that Arthur Birling does not change his views or attitude over the course of the play. Though he reveals more of his contempt and his anger at the foolish behaviour of others, he cannot see that his action towards the girl was wrong, and we (the audience) see that if the events were repeated again, he would still feel justified in sacking the girl. He feels this was, and still is, the right attitude for a man of business.
After the Inspector has gone he wants everything to return to normal. He cannot understand Sheila’s and Eric’s persistence that ‘something’ has to be learned. He is relived when he feels that the scandal has been avoided and everything is all right. J.B. Priestly lets us see someone who is completely wrong and never really in control of events, as he would like others and himself to believe. At the end of the play there is no change in Arthur’s character as he is still the self – centred, selfish and repentant..
At the end of the play Mr Birling thinks every thing is all right and goes back to the way the way he was before the Inspectors arrival ‘This makes a difference, y’know”. In fact, it makes all the difference’. They do not realise that whether a girl has been killed or not, the main reason for the Inspectors visit was for them to realise that they have to take responsibility for their actions, whether you are rich or poor. Mr Birling does not realise this and goes back to his selfish, hardheaded character. He does not realise that what he does may destroy a person’s life. There is a possibility that the audience do feel sorry for him at the end of the play when his relief that the incident is over and done with is shattered by the telephone call
I believe Mr: Birling has learned how to build walls to protect himself and if another Inspector came then he would probably keep quiet and show no emotion. The experience has not made him more caring towards people and he will probably treat his workers in the same way. However he will probably be cleverer to ensure that nothing like this happen again. I do not think that he has learned anything positive from this experience because does not have an open mind. He is unwilling to accept the fact that sometimes he is the one in the wrong and some people do not know more than him. He does learn more negative things than positive things but still we can see that he is slightly more open-minded than his wife.
Sheila Birling, Mr Birling’s daughter is in her twenties, very pretty, and Sheila is very pleased with herself and her life. Sheila represents the younger generation in the play. At the beginning of the play we see that Sheila is playful and rather self – centred, enjoying the attention and importance that her engagement is bringing her. We see that Sheila is an attractive and honest character, as well as sensitive and naïve. From the opening description of her, followed by the account of her giving Eva Smith the sack which show her up as a very spoilt child who usually gets her own way because of her status in society, Sheila however learns to admit to the shameful behaviour and to take responsibility for her actions. She faces up to unpleasant truths about her future husband and family and learns lessons, which will influence her forever. Sheila is one of the main characters in the play who seems to change her attitudes towards life at the end of the play.
In contrast during Sheila’s interrogation we see that she is a kind hearted, pleasant and good- humoured person.
‘These people aren’t cheap labour, their people’. Sheila and Eric Birling are the only ones to realise this and we begin to see that Sheila is not as cold hearted as her parents. We, the audience, see that Sheila sees her father as a hard employer.
Sheila is deeply affected by what the Inspector says and dreadfully regrets what she did to Eva Smith. She is the only character at this stage to take responsibility for her actions.
Sheila Birling learns a lot during the play and undergoes a change that usually only happens over a longer period of time. This sudden change is caused by what she has to go through during the play. First, she finds out that she contributed towards Eva’s suicide. This makes Sheila really think about what sort of person she is and in turn a change of attitude in her. If this was not enough, she finds out that Gerald had an affair with Eva/Daisy. This makes Sheila think about the sort of people she lives with and loves. She becomes more mature as the play progresses and she moves into the Inspectors light. This is symbolic, as we see her moving from an enclosed life into the real world enlightened by the truth by her part in Eva’s death. When the Inspector leaves, Sheila takes over his role and tries to teach her family that they should care for other people of all classes. In the National Theatre production, whilst in the light, she undresses. This symbolises her learning from her actions and whilst undressed, the rain falls; again symbolising her rebirth as the falling rain-washes her clean of her past.
After the Inspectors interrogation Sheila has higher moral standards and has learned to show compassion for every human being no matter how they look like, their social status or how much money they have. She is no longer a dependant girl and it is obvious that the Inspector is successful in making her see the consequences of her actions. Finally, the Inspector and she are in agreement; and she fully understands everything that he has trying to teach them. Her concordance with the Inspector is shown in her echoing of his words when she says to Gerald during her questioning of him about Eva/Daisy “We haven’t much time”. The Inspector is always ware of the lack of time and that everything is controlled by it. Little things like this show that she understands the Inspector.
It is apparent that Sheila wants to change because she keeps saying “You’re pretending everything just as it was before” and she does not want it to be that way. The only other person to share her attitudes is Eric. This demonstrates that the younger generations do have open minds and care more for other people, so they are likely to have different views form their parents, as they are more willing to learn from other people’s perspective of life. Sheila benefits from the Inspectors visit and if another Inspector were to come, then she would immediately tell the truth. She has learnt not to hide things from people. I think that she will try to improve her family’s relationships and help people in need, treating everybody with the same respect.
The audience realises that the younger generation like Sheila and Eric accept responsibility towards others. Her realisation that honesty and truth really matter shows that she is capable of learning and changing. She has begun to have some understanding of the world and her responsibility, according to whose values instead of those of her family. This is why she can see the trap her mother’s arrogance is creating and why she tries to stop her mother from exposing and condemning the child’s father. It is only Sheila and Eric that, the two youngsters and ‘more impressionable’ characters that everyone needs to learn something from what has happened ‘I suppose that we’re all nice people now’ Sheila is continually reminding her parents that they have to realise that their actions always effect other, and that they have to take responsibility for their actions, whether the person is below them in society. Sheila does genuinely seem to have learned something and to have changed, and we feel that her future attitude to others will be more caring, self – controlled and responsible.
The older generation have proved in the play to the audience that they have learned ‘something’ but when they see a ‘way out’ they simply return to their former characters at the beginning of the play.
It is Gerald who first brings some proof that the Inspector was not a member of the police force. Gerald uses the uncertainty about the girls’ name, and the fact that no one else saw the photographs shown to any one of the characters, to suggest that there might have been several different girls.
Mr and Mrs Birling join Gerald in eagerly trying to improve their own situation by discrediting the Inspector. Emphasis is placed on the idea that it has all been a trick, so reducing the seriousness of the admissions they have all made ‘well I must say his manners as quite extraordinary; so – so rude – and assertive’ -
The telephone at the end reopens the question of the Inspector’s identity. The telephone call is also a dramatic device in the play. In the production of the play you could well expect the story to end after the revelations about Eric have been made and the Inspector leaves. In fact simply exploring adjustments to family relationships would probably end the play in a satisfactory way. But because Priestly’s real intention was to influence his audience towards community responsibility, we are also made to work quite hard to understand and think about it afterwards – hopefully to learn something our selves. This type of play, when the writer is trying to teach the audience something, was common in the drama and literature of the first half of the twentieth century. Such works are called “didactic”, and were written by authors such as Bernard Shaw and H.G Wells that Birlings refer to so scornfully. Priestly ends the play with a twist, another phone call form the police. The suspense and beauty of this play is that Priestly always keeps us guessing during the play and he has done exactly the same with the ending of the play, he has left us wondering if the same Inspector will come to question them again and if Gerald and the Birlings will be able to keep their knowledge to themselves, but more importantly have they learnt and understood why the Inspector was here, in addition will they take the inspectors knowledge and use it for their own purpose possibly to make the lives working class families a little easier, and for them to take responsibility for their actions.
