Mr Birling Analysis

An Inspector Calls Theme Exploration
J.B Priestley wrote “An Inspector Calls” in 1945, but the play itself was set in 1912. It is about the life of a noble family who is suddenly affected by a girl named Eva Smith who change all of their lives forever. Apart from being a story, this tale conceals the novelist’s view which he explores through the narration. The author of the play successfully depicts a class ridden and hypocritical society by breaking the distinguished image of the aristocratic endower family through his character's actions and by illustrating the view of how the upper class tried to separate themselves from the working class.
Mrs. Sybil Birling is one of the main characters in the play and portrays the part of an upper-class
snob who pretends to be a high-minded and ethical person that shares the idea of general wellness in the community. Toward the end of the book, Mrs.Birling is questioned by the Inspector as to how she treated Eva Smith when she came to her for help with her unborn child. “a piece of gross impertinence” is what she says when Eva uses the Birling name, thinking it would help her cause. This outraged Sybil, so she refused her any help from her charity foundation. This quote proves how much of a hypocritical society the characters live in, because although Mrs.Birling is the “leader” of this charity foundation, the one that is supposed to help women that need assistance, she dismisses Eva’s cry for help. This is a clear example of how people of the higher class had to show themselves as flawless to make their family name significant despite their true intentions.
Throughout the play, we can sense a strong feeling of indifference from the upper class toward the lower class.
After Mr. Birling praises the cook in front of Gerald, Mrs. Birling sends the cook away and later on makes a reference to her social status by saying “girls of that class”. She is referring to people that belong to the lower, working class such as Eva Smith. To her, this means that they are inferior to the nobles even though they are the “backbone” of the society and the ones that work hard so the upper classes can live their life with ease. Later on, Mr. Birling refers to Eva and his employees in the factory as “cheap labor”, not as people with rights. This shows even greater insouciance toward the working class. These two quotes show how the upper class tried building a wall to separate them from the lower class, to make sure it points out that they are only important because they serve the higher class. An indisputable case of not being part of the collective responsibility.
The novelist effectively expresses his view on the duplicitous and class-ridden society that predominates in the year the book is set by breaking down the aristocrat family through the characters actions and showing the wall between the working class and the higher class. The reader can easily analyze the play and understand that the gist that J.B Priestley conveyed was to reveal his discontent as to how the society was run at the time. This play is full of irony from the author to evoke the
desired reaction in his audience. truly a lot of message in few pages.