Another theme is shown in the way different members of the Birling household respond to their guilt. Eric and Sheila are horrified at what has happened, but Birling is only concerned that his part in Eva’s death will result in a public scandal.
In the play we can see a situation of conflict between rich and poor people. Priestley uses Birling to represent the factory owners; Eva is the stereotype of the downtrodden working class girl . The Inspector has come to stand up for her rights, and others from her social class, now that she has gone. Priestley uses dialogue to show the differences in attitude between these two social class attitudes:
BIRLING Rubbish! If you don’t come down sharply on some of these people, they’d soon be asking for the earth.
INSPECTOR they might. But after all it’s better to ask for the earth then to take it.
One important device which Priestley uses to manipulate his audience is the use of time. The play is set in 1912, but it was written and performed more than thirty years later. This allows Priestley to make Mr. Birling seem even more ridiculous, as he says things that we know, in hindsight, to be false. In doing this, Priestley has helped us to discredit all his attitudes, not just his mistaken comments about the war and the Titanic; ‘unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable’. This is a device called dramatic irony, where there is a discrepancy between the way things are and the words a character uses.
The play is set in a real-life household and happens in ‘real’ time. This makes the audience feel that what they are seeing is actually happening. They are experiencing realistic social issues through the eyes of a single family – which has become like a miniature world, and although all the events occur in a middle class and prosperous home, the play draws attention to the contrasts of factory life, squalor and lives of poverty and misery.
Priestley uses Mr. and Mrs. Birling to show what the capitalist viewpoint is. Mr. Birling in particular is portrayed as a pompous fool, who thinks he knows everything and in reality knows nothing. Priestley enjoys knocking him down a peg or two by making him seem ridiculous to the audience, with his views of the unsinkable Titanic and a war that will never happen. They are both incredibly proud of their social status in Brumley, but as the Inspector shows, they are not prepared to take the responsibility that goes with it.
The Inspector is Priestley’s own mouthpiece to show his socialist views. We are shown that Eric and Sheila can learn that they have acted badly and the Inspector manages to change their lives and their outlooks forever. Their parents contrast with them, and the play makes us question what sort of a character we would prefer to be. What would we do with all the Eva Smiths and John Smiths out there?
Priestley’s socialist views are most clearly represented by the Inspector, although both Sheila and Eric echo his sentiments at different parts in the play. These views are directly contradictory to the way that Mr. and Mrs. Birling see and do things. Priestley’s main point in this play is to show that we are a community, and, whether we like it or not, we all are responsible for the other people who share our community with us.
All of the characters sitting down to dinner in the Birling household are responsible for the fate of one girl, however not all of them choose to see their responsibilities, preferring to believe that a man has to "look after himself and his own." Priestley partially shows his own voice by ridiculing Mr. Birling through showing the pompous man to be in basic error about so many things, such as the Titanic being unsinkable and war not breaking out. The audience would know that he is wrong, and that lends more credence to what Priestley is saying.
Sheila and Eric learn from what the Inspector teaches them about responsibility. Sheila herself explains:
"I remember what he said, how he looked, and what he made me feel. Fire and blood and anguish."
Through the Inspector, Priestley shows us that being wealthy is not enough, nor is being successful. What that status means is that we have to take on responsibilities for others in our society. We cannot have these privileges without the responsibility.
"Public men Mr. Birling, have responsibilities as well as privileges"
Priestley is trying to teach his audience about responsibility for others. He was a socialist in his own beliefs, and throughout the play Priestley uses the character of the Inspector to teach his beliefs to the audience, in contrast with the arrogant beliefs regarding responsibility of Mr. and Mrs Birling.
Mr. Birling quite clearly states that a man has to look after himself and his own, but the Inspector is there to challenge this ingrained belief. Events in the play show that all members of the Birling family are implicated and have some form of responsibility for the death of Eva Smith, but only the likeable characters accept their responsibility for what they have done and decide to change their ways.
Our actions do affect others: as the Inspector tells the Birlings, there are hundreds of Eva Smiths and John Smiths out there; every action can have consequences. With wealth and status comes a duty to help those in the community less fortunate than ourselves.
Priestly also uses his characters to expose the attitudes of society because there were variety of social problems which were raised by Eva’s situation. She is an example of the most vulnerable members of the society of the time. Here are some suggestions:
1. She is poor and uneducated and is therefore very dependent on people like Mr. Birling for a job.
2. She is pregnant because of the exploitation of a member of the affluent middle class. She is Eric’s victim and this is because of her attractiveness combined with the fact that she has not got the status which would protect her against such seduction.
3. She is helpless to fend for herself in her condition and therefore needs the aid of charity. She is dependent on the judgment of women like Mrs Birling, who believe that they are superior to her and therefore in a position to decide whether she should be helped or not.
4. She is a pretty girl and therefore Sheila’s victim because of her vanity.
So by showing us how each character has contributed to Eva’s suffering, we are given a clear picture of just how difficult and unfair life was in this society for the weak and vulnerable.
Just before the Inspector leaves the Birling household is the best place to look for him being used as a mouthpiece for Priestley’s own socialist views. The Inspector states what Priestley believes about society and how it should work. He points out the mistakes that have been made and gives the Birlings and the audience an opportunity to change. He challenges us to take responsibility for our actions, and to treat the working class with equality
Priestly conveys dramatic tension in the Inspectors last speech and carries the overall message of the play.
The Inspector’s speech basically sums up the whole message of the play. It comes at a very strategic time, dramatically. All of the sins of the Birlings (and Gerald) have been revealed, and they have found out that not only did Eva Smith suffer because of their heartlessness, but they have lost a grandchild (Eric’s child). They have completely fallen apart, to the point where Eric almost hits his mother. They all feel guilty at this point, which allows the Inspector to take charge. Look carefully at how he has manipulated them to this point – inspecting them in a particular order and to a very specific time limit.
The Inspector now has the full attention of the characters and the audience, so he can make the point that he has been leading up to all night. They can do nothing to help Eva Smith, but there are millions of people just like her who need help. The Inspector tells us how important it is to take care of each other – if people are made to suffer, we will suffer too. The words, ’We are members of one body,’ is at the heart of the socialist message of the play – we must take responsibility for the welfare of others – not just our own. It is not just directed towards the Birlings; we are expected to respond to this message as well.
This moment is already full of tension, but the Inspector’s final sentences raise the tension even more with their foreboding. He tell us that if we don’t listen to him then we will have to pay the price in ’fire and blood and anguish.’ Our lives can never be the same.
Many people believe that these words were actually a prediction of World Wars I and II and even the Russian Revolution. People did not learn the Inspector’s lesson, which is why the Holocaust happened. It is also because of these words that we become so angry when it seems later on that the Birlings are going to get away with it. We feel that the Inspector has lied to us and that people like them will not have to suffer. This is why the ending is such a relief (and a surprise!) to us – it seems the Birlings are not going to get away with it after all.
