An Inspector Calls Social Responsibility

How does Priestly present the theme of social responsibility?

In the play, An Inspector Calls, Priestly presents the theme of social responsibility through the behaviors, attitudes and actions of the characters; Mr Birling, Mrs Birling and Shelia. The theme of social responsibility is mainly shown through Mr Birling’s character. Mr Birling is shown as having a self – centered and pettish attitude whereas Shelias behavior changes from being immature and childish to an increase in maturity as shown at the end of the play. Mrs Birlings character is shown as being an arrogant and selfish person.

Mr Birling is presented as a cruel and selfish character who doesn’t accept his role of social responsibility. This is evident when an idiom is used

This is shown in “If we were all responsible for everything that happened to everybody we’d have anything to do with, it would be very awkward wouldn’t it?” The word ‘awkward’ has connotations of embarrassment, clumsiness, ill-mannered, and inconvenient. This shows that being responsible for other people’s roles is inconvenient and a waste of time. This links to the fact that he doesn’t want to accept his role in social responsibility. This quote shows that he doesn’t want to accept anyone else’s responsibility but himself, it reveals his double-sided face, his ‘kind’ character, and his ‘arrogance and egotistic’ side. The technique used in this quote is a rhetorical question. Mr Birling tries to boost his confidence and looks for reassurance from the Inspector. Birling’s principles and values are morally wrong. He knows that if he says something that would go against himself, then there would be consequences such as him losing his knighthood and his social status. He only considers his rank and is rude to the inspector. At that time, rank was very important because it showed how much money and power you had, and based on that, that was how people treated you. If he was to accept his role in social responsibility, he thinks that he would lose his social status and his clients might go away and cause his business to close, this would make him closer to middle class. Also, he may lose his

“There’s every excuse for what both your mother and I did – it turned out unfortunately, that’s all” The word ‘excuse’ connotes pathetic, waste of time, suggesting Mr Birling is desperate of excusing himself of the blame because he knows that whatever he says needs to be said wisely or else there are severe outcomes that will occur upon him. Eva Smith’s death is an unfortunate tragedy, an unmanageable situation, and not worthy enough to make Mr Birling accept or feel responsible for his actions. An Inspector Calls was first published in 1945 at a time of huge change – both of the World Wars were recent in the minds of the people, women had become more noticeable and admired in the workplace and it was possible to be in a high class as others. However, It is set in 1912 - this means that the characters have no knowledge or understanding of these world events that have happened during Priestley’s times. Priestley uses dramatic irony to make important points about how important social responsibility was at that time.

It was important because at the time the play was written there were strong class divisions, meaning that people were treated based on their class. For example, if you came from a lower class, then society would treat you badly. If you came from a higher class, then you were treated as though you were a