Mr Arthur Birling

• “I’m talking as a hard-headed practical man of business”
• ‘you’ll hear some people say war is Inevitable … fiddlesticks!’
• ‘The Titanic – she sails next week… and unsinkable, absolutely

  unsinkable.’
• “I gather there’s a very good chance of a knighthood”
• “you’d think everybody has to look after everybody else, as if we were

  all mixed up like bees in a hive – community and all that nonsense.”
• “Probably a Socialist or some sort of crank ”
• Exclamatory sentence – he’s passionate and convinced about

  what he’s saying.
• ” The Germans don’t want war “
• Birling's motivation towards Eva

  Self-interest and social standing: afraid of being disrupted from his comfortable life
• Significance of Birling's character

  Greed and selfishness; contrast to Inspector's moral responsibility
• Affect of Birling's greed on others

  Denies Eva Smith a job and ignores her needs
• What drives Birling's desire for status

  Need for self-importance and recognition