an inspector calls Flashcards
Mr birling goes from protagonist to antagonist due to his use of imperatives
‘you ought to like this port Gerald”
“now then Sybil, you must take a little tonight”
“just let me finish,Eric”
-he is all about commanding and advising, this manner in speaking reveals how he is the patriarch of the family, he has the authority and control before inspector arrives
conversation terminology
- Mr birling topic manages, doesn’t allow turn-taking(as he speaks the most), other characters back channel him
‘a man has to make his own way -has to look after himself-and his family too of course when he has one’
he is exhibiting his own selfishness, he is so selfish that even his own family is a second thought to him.
‘some of these cranks” , ‘as if we were all mixed together like bees in a hive’
the mode of addressing ‘cranks’ for socialists reveals how he views their views as having no value to them and ridicules and trivialises the idea.
‘if you don’t come down sharply on some of these people they’d soon be asking for the earth’
-metaphor , the earth is meant to be symbolic of resources, an idiom he believes the proletariat are asking for too much. A vast sense of irony, he is a wealthy man who has asked for the earth and gotten it, however, wants to prevent others from also having this. Reveals the hypocrisy and selfishness in the concept of individualism
‘come down’- reveals this awareness of the social hierarchy and how he is at the high end of it therefore he has to come down on them. Metaphor not only reveals his oppressing and suppressing individuals but also an awareness of this.
‘sharply’ connotes this sense of haste, a bourgeoise view suppressing the proletariat as a fundamental obligation in their ideology as they want to do is ‘sharply’ and powerful.
mode of address of ‘these people’ creates this distancing between himself and the working class, a sense of separation to advocate his superiority and how supercilious he is
‘the titanic - unsinkable absolutely unsinkable”
-repetition of unsinkable alongside the adverb absolutely creates this extremely confident tone, heightens how much the dramatic irony undermines him
-Priestley skilfully creates a divide with the contemporary audience who know this to be wholly untrue. By presenting him in this way, the audience are likely to not just resent him for his incorrect opinions, but what he stands for:capitalism
he is Priestley’s puppet performing and making a mockery of the politics priestley despises
mr birling is “rather provincial in his speech” revealing he climbed the social landing which may explain his sense of arrogance and hubris of a man desperate to impress as a way of making his insecurity that he is new money, not born into wealth.
‘its exactly the same port your father gets’
‘look inspector-i’d give thousands- yes thousands”
“just a knighthood of course”
-reveals his individualism, reveals where his values lie and his values lie in reputation and social standing , wants to be perceived well. Same port as sir croft gives him a sense of power feels this sense of egalitarian, knighthood increase his prestige, willing to pay off anything that depicts him in a negative light.
places money and reputation over human life
