The Role of Arthur Birling in An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley

The Role of Arthur Birling in An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley

I am going to investigate the role of Arthur Birling in the play “An

Inspector calls. Arthur Birling is the head of the family, he is rich

and bad-tempered. He doesn’t care about anyone unless they are making

him look good or richer. He is a very traditional man, and within his

family, he likes to believe that what he says goes.

Mr Birling is a pompous man in his mid fifties. At the beginning of

the play, Birling is in charge of everything. He is a public figure

and is obsessed with how things appear to people and maintaining the

high status he has within the community. The Birlings are a middle

class family. Sybil Birling is Arthur’s social superior. Arthur hopes

to get a Knighthood, he believes that he will due to all the work he

has done for the community. He was Lord Mayor for two years and he

still is a member of the bench. Mr Birling knows that Gerald’s family

believe him to be marrying below his social status so he tells Gerald

to drop hints to them about him gaining a Knight Hood in the hope it

will impress them. His biggest fear when the Inspector has left is

that he won’t get his Knighthood and that there will be a public

scandal, this would ruin his daughter’s marriage and, more importantly

his chances of his company and Gerald’s fathers merging.

Mr Birling is a prosperous factory owner. His first priority in life

is to make money. Even at the celebration of his daughter’s engagement

he manages to talk about business. He welcomes Gerald Croft into the

family as a business link between his own firm and Gerald’s fathers,

Crofts limited.

“You’re just ...

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...at Goole was a fraud, he just passes

of the events as a joke and nothing has changed for him. He ignores

the shameful things his family has done. He is happy to believe that

everything is just as it was a few hours ago. He is selfish and

self-centred and can’t see why his children can’t go on living as they

did before.

He imitates the inspector saying “You all helped kill her” then

points towards Sheila and Eric, laughing, as he remembers their faces

once the Inspector had said that. Then he repeats what the Inspector

had said about the younger generation “Now look at the pair of them –

the famous younger generation who know it all” mocking his children

because they actually feel some regret for their actions. This is an

example of pride coming before a fall as a moment later the phone

rings and he is panicking.