inspector’s final speech - responsibility

• "we are responsible for each other"


  - this final speech is the direct opposite of mr birling's opening lecture; mr birling supported capitalist ideas which contrasts with this quote
• "we are members of one body"


  - everyone is connected on a deeper level; society is the result of everyone's combined actions

  - "body" metaphor shows how everyone in community must work together to keep society healthy and well - link to "bees in a hive"
• "we don't live alone"


  - states the obvious; moral duty to look after others

  - ignoring this is not only selfish but also delusional
• "millions and millions and millions of eva smiths and john smiths"


  - repetition of "millions" opens up the play from limited scope of the family's dining room to a global concern

  - exaggerates amount of people with same predicament as eva

  - "john smiths" shows both genders are going through these issues

  - suggests the incident could have been prevented if community had cared for one another more

  - priestley uses inspector to not only correct characters' mistakes and share his socialist views, but to also inform the audience of the possible consequences if socialism didn't become introduced soon
• "all intertwined with our lives"


  - semantic field of connection which dismisses all societal divisions (including class and wealth) that the birlings had used to avoid responsibility

  - priestley is trying to say that ultimately, we are all the same; shared responsibility is the inevitable outcome of living side by side
• "if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught in fire and blood and anguish"


  - reference to the wars that priestley lived through

  - semantic field of war and hell

  - war is consequence of neglect of others

  - "fire and blood and anguish" mirrors the "anguish" felt by eva smith as the bleach "burnt" her insides