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Rattan Bhorjee
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A-Level English (An Inspector Calls) Mind Map on An Inspector Calls: Mr Arthur Birling, created by Rattan Bhorjee on 08/02/2015.

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Rattan Bhorjee
Created by Rattan Bhorjee about 10 years ago
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Alex Cuthbertson
Alex Cuthbertson
about 2 years ago
trying to figure out how to save this for revision lmao
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An Inspector Calls:Mr Arthur BirlingInspector's Interrogation & Eva SmithAppearance & PersonalitySocial Standing Within...Priestley's use of Mr BirlingHe is described at the start as a "heavy-looking, ratherportentous man in his middle fifties but rather provincial in hisspeech."Mr Birling is a man who believes money and status isthe way to judge people, he himself has alreadyclimbed the social ladder by marrying Sybil, his 'Socialsuperior'.He has worked his way up in the world and is proud of hisachievements. He boasts about having been Mayor and tries (and fails)to impress the Inspector with his local standing and his influentialfriends.He is aware of people who are his social superiors, which is why he shows offabout the port to Gerald, "it's exactly the same port your father gets." He isproud that he is likely to be knighted, as that would move him even higher insocial circles.He claims the party "is one of the happiest nights of my life." This is not only becauseSheila will be happy, but because a merger with Crofts Limited will be good for hisbusiness.He is optimistic for the future and confident that there will not be a war. As the audience knows there will be a war, we begin todoubt Mr Birling's judgement (If he is wrong about the war, what else will he be wrong about?).Priestley uses Mr Birling to embody the stereotypical capitalist views of a middle aged, middle class man of the era. Hewants to protect himself and his family. He also believes that socialist ideas that stress the importance of thecommunity are "nonsense" and that "a man has to make his own way."He wants to protect Birling and Co. He cannot see that he did anything wrong when hefired Eva Smith - he was just looking after his business interests.He wants to protect his reputation. As the Inspector's investigations continue, his selfishness gets the better of him: he is worried about how the press will view the story in Act II, andaccuses Sheila of disloyalty at the start of Act III. He wants to hide the fact that Eric stole money: "I've got to cover this up as soon as I can."At the end of the play, he knows he has lost the chance of his knighthood, his reputation in Brumley and the chance of Birling and Co. merging with theirrivals. Yet he hasn't learnt the lesson of the play: he is unable to admit his responsibility for his part in Eva's death.Priestley cleverly links the play with the seven deadly sins. As the majority of his audience was Christian at the time and the seven deadly sins were part of Christian teachings, they would find it easy to relate to the seven deadlysins. Each character is linked with one of the sins. Mr Birling’s sin is greed; he wouldn’t pay his workers fair wages. The strong correlation towards the seven deadly sins clearly helps the Christian audience at the time tounderstand that each of the characters did things that could happen in everyday life and that these things are wrong.During the play Mr Birling and Mrs Birling represent the older generation in the audience who are reluctant to change their attitudes. Forinstance, after the Inspector has left, Mr Birling is more concerned about “a public scandal”, than Eva Smith.Tries to intimidate the Inspector with his talk of Knighthoods and "Chief Constable...". The Inspector ignores this.Priestley shows he is both a ninny and that he has no real understanding of the world through hisclaims of "the Germans don't want war" and the "unsinkable" Titanic.Arrogant and self-important as he constantly parades hissocial standing and capitalist, highly Conservative views.Doesn't show compassion for Eva Smith, simply describing her as a "wretched girl". He is proud that he sackeda girl with "too much to say" and later adds she "got herself into trouble".Treats Eric and Sheila like small children saying "it's nothingto do with you Sheila" while showing no concern for EvaSmith.He later becomes abusive at Eric when he discovers he stole "fiftypounds" and is only concerned about the scandal that Eric is "mixed upin".The FamilyWider SocietyThroughout the play he seems only interested in covering up the scandal and is one of the first to grasp at the idea that the Inspector is a"fake". He is delighted when this revelation surfaces and jokes at Sheila that she'll "have a good laugh".He, like his wife, doesn't learn anything from the Inspector's visit, and ultimately pays the price for his ignorance when the real Inspector is announced to be coming.He blames Eric more than any other character: "you'rethe one I blame for this", showing he has no sense ofguilt.Double click this nodeto edit the textClick and drag this buttonto create a new node