When looking at the characters, not much seems wrong, until you listen to way they respond to each other. For instance, Mr Birling is in theory from a lower class then his wife so he is always being ‘put into place’ by his wife. This is shown when he deals with Edna, Birling, who would not have had ‘servants’ as a boy, is not used to having service beneath him so he does not know how to act properly unlike his wife, who is used to having a Butler or Maid etc. Eric being the young man of the house wants to prove himself as a ‘proper’ man but comes across as arrogant in his Fathers eyes for disagreeing with some of Birling’s opinions. Gerald and Shelia’s relationship however, differs from the two mentioned above. At the beginning they are making jokes about each other in a playful manner but it is only later on do the gloves come off. They both are very different in the way they react to other members of the family, maybe because Gerald is not a member of the Birling family despite what Birling has said. Whereas Gerald will hold his tongue, Shelia will speak her mind towards any family member.
Mr Birling is considered being the Captain of the Titanic. He believes his family is well crafted and well formed and unsinkable prior to what he said about the Titanic itself. He calls himself ‘A hard-headed man of business’ and is unrelenting to see otherwise. He believes that past outcome can predict the future although the audience know that many of the things he says about War, Russia and the Titanic are untrue, which gives his little speeches a certain black comedy to them. He celebrates himself being a businessman and a man wise enough to predict the future although the audience know otherwise. He seems to forget the actual prospect of his daughter getting married but does not forget that it is his chance for knighthood. Mr Birling is a superb character when it comes to making a conflict with the audience and his joke which implies Eric may have caused a scandal is also humorous and dramatic when he himself has a secret.
It is only when the Inspector arrives that Birling begin to feel uneasy. There is a lot of irony in the scene where Birling requests for more light signifying that he, birling is to be inspected rather than the Inspector calling about a warrant. The light also shows that the Inspector has a way of bringing out the truth; people keep thing in the dark, but the light makes them show up. The Inspector also manages to easily take control which frustrates Birling so he tries to intimidate the inspector by telling him he has roots within the police force. The Inspector is represented by this harsh figure that just wants the facts and is only trying to expose the family and their bad deeds to try and make them see sense.
Near to the end of the play, Mr Birling once again manages to come across as ignorant when he believes his children are taking the whole Eva Smith business a bit too seriously. He is being hypocritical by saying that the man should look after his family where he has proven that he cares for his business maybe even more so than his family so his business can be seen as a family and the girl Eva Smith part of that family who was not looked after despite what he told Eric and Gerald.
He will not see the error of his ways in any case although his children, saddened and affected by the girls death have seen what being middle class in those days was really like and the audience can reflect having seen it happen.
In the final scene, the Birling parents and Gerald believe they are all safe from scandal. Gerald finds out the Inspector was actually a fake and the infirmary have no suicides. They rejoice and fall back into old patterns. They clearly haven’t learnt what the Inspector was trying to teach them; everyone needs to look after each other. They make fun of the Inspector and all but the children seem to be upset about the night’s events and only have the children changed their views. This could show that there is a good chance of survival for the world if the message the Inspector was giving them if the Birling children picked up on it but still shows that the Birling’s have not learnt the error of their ways from the phoney Inspector. When the telephone rings, it’s a matter of time before Birling realises he should’ve changed his ways. Apparently a girl has died and an Inspector is on his way to ask some questions. He knows now that if he didn’t change his ways with Goole, he will when the new Inspector comes.
In conclusion, JB Priestley has effectively used the dramatic effect perfectly. He has managed to make the Inspector a harsh character, yet he has warm views towards life. He makes a great story in the right setting which still can have some meaning today. The moral is to look after one another, otherwise War does break out and other disasters.
The Birling’s=Titanic, Eva Smith= Iceberg
By Christopher Pettit-Mee
