Priestley represents responsibility in the play An Inspector Calls through the characters and their different views. Mr Birling is used for the argument for Capitalism, he is used for this so he an easily dislikable character in the play. Priestley shows the audience this immediately by describing him as a ‘rather portentous man’. This abhorrent idea of Mr Birling is carried out throughout the play when the Inspector question Mr Birling about the death of Eva Smith.
Mr Birling denies having any responsibility to her death. Mr and Mrs BIrling are more embarrassed about the consequences, for example losing his knighthood rather than the death of a young girl. Mr Birling appears not to think that a ‘lower class’ person, could have feelings. His attitude rotates around protecting his personal status and his family.
Mrs Birling’s role to contributing to Evas death was possibly the most important and if her actions were different it could have changed the plays ending completely, but despite of this, her attitude was not that different to Mr Birling’s.
When Eva came to Mrs Birling for help while she was pregnant with Erics child, Mrs Birling turned her away at the door of her Woman’s Charity Organisation, but undeterred of this, Mrs Birling doesn’t believe she is responsible for her death. She is presented as an inherited wealthy woman. She has a stubborn attitude towards the death of Eva Smith and claims that she has done ‘nothing she is ashamed of’.
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Eric Birling is described a weak character in the play due to his drinking problem – to highlight his low self-esteem. This is caused by his parent not treating him seriously and lack of parental love. Eric is constantly compared to Gerald. Priestley wants the audience to feel sorry for Eric. This is achieved by how he is neglected as part of the family. As a result of this the audience was more laid back about him impregnating Eva Smith.
Priestley made Eric the father of Eva Smiths baby instead go Gerald because it brought the baby into the family and made the Birling family more connected and in a hope to make Mrs Birling to feel guilty for her actions. Eric Birling was questioned at the end of the play because it brings the family together to highlight how each one of them was responsible for the death if Eva Smith.
When Shiela heard about the news of Evas Smiths death, she was genuinely shocked and distressed. ‘oh-horrible-horrible’. Priestly shows us how Shiela was genuinely shocked by the use of repetition and dashes, both used to create emphasis. At the start of the play Shiela is very childish and spoilt by referring to her father as ‘daddy’ and uses colloquial language such as ‘squiffy’ but towards the end she acknowledges her malpractice and accepts responsibility which shows she has grown up throughout the play. Shiela is standing for what she knows in morally right. This character development in Shiela makes the audience liker her more, and as a result of this it could be converting the audience from capitalism to socialism because they feel a connection with her.
