Individualism In An Inspector Calls

An Inspector Calls, written by J.B.Priestley, was first performed in 1945. It was a time of great economical, social and political disorder, having just won the Second World War, Britain was in crippling debt. Furthermore, two main views took on the general population, collectivism (favoured by lower class) and individualism (favoured by middle and upper class). Priestley favoured collectivism, as he explores this through the imaginary girl Eva Smith (a lower class) and the individualistic Birling family. Warning the audience what reprobate effects individualism has caused to British society in different classes. But also reflecting how the young are capable and in need of change. Priestley first recreates the British environment through the character description as unjust and selfish. Arthur Birling, designed to be the representation of the middle class at that time, is ‘a heavy-looking, rather portentous man

Thus allowing the audience to reflect how problematic it was. One way this is done is through Birling’s speech “the Titanic… forty six thousand eight hundred tons… unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable”. The Titanic represents the greatest technological advancement at that time frame and thus could represent the Birling family, as Mr Birling is an industrialist, and thus the middle class. The repetition of the word “unsinkable” may portray their true and ingrained belief in the Titanic and through it, themselves. The word “absolutely” may show the lack of consideration for other options and thus shows the unchanging and narrow visioned nature of those individualists such as Mr Birlings, which will be their undoing similar to how the Titanic sinks. This may incriminate Edwardian society as it is because of their own narrow vision that those people died and manslaughter was