mr birling

• "hard headed practical man of business" - mr birling


  Priestley is using language of the Labour Party Manifesto to turn it into drama his audience can relate to. It's an allusion to the language of Sir Stanley Baldwin (prime minister during the period the play covers) attack on capitalism.
• "there isn't a chance of war (...) impossible" - mr birling


  the audience are manipulated to dislike mr birling for his pompous nature. They don't trust him because WW1 begins a few years after the play is set, contradiciting his predictions in the same way he called the titanic "unsinkable" which is dramatic irony.
• 'looks down on the Inspector "I don't like your tone"' - mr birling


  the stage directions highlight how patronising he is. He feels threatened by the Inspector's authorative presence, feeling as if his masculinty is undermimed because he isn't used to opposition due to his status.
• "(unhappily) look Inspector- I'd give thousands" - mr birling


  this shows that he's fixated on his reputation, he tries to appear congenial even though he doesn't mean it. He appears unsympathetic and pseudo claiming he would pay "thousands" despite refusing Eva the initial money. It conveys irresponsibility that a bribe can allow sympathy.
• "asking for the earth" - mr birling


  the hyperbole is the attempt for him to justify his rejection of Eva's pay rise but the absurdity of the statement reflects the absurdity of his refusual to pay a decent wage.