Social Responsibility

• Social Responsibility


  • The most obvious theme in 'An Inspector Calls'
  • The Inspector encourages the Birlings to be accountable for their actions and take responsibility for others
  • Many people in society are vulnerable or mistreated through no fault of their own, just like Eva Smith
• All actions have consequences


  It is impossible to live in isolation
• Being mindful of your own actions


  Helps take responsibility for others
• Looking after others


  Benefits society as a whole
• The play condemns those in power for not protecting the people they were supposed to, and for leading the country into war without considering whom it would affect
• Welfare State


  What Priestley advocates for through the theme of social responsibility
• Mr Birling


  • Represents the antithesis of Priestley's message on social responsibility
  • Only cares about himself and always puts himself first, even when this means harming others
  • Completely oblivious about what other people go through, or how his actions impact others
  • Never accepts responsibility
  • His lack of compassion and responsibility are tied to his class and Capitalist ideologies
• Mr Birling: '"The way some of these cranks talk and write now, you'd think everybody has to look after everybody else, as if we were all mixed up together like bees in a hive - community and all that nonsense."'
• Capitalism


  Inherent negligence, as Capitalists feel they have a responsibility to make profit but not a responsibility to their workers
• Priestley shows neglect and inhumanity are a part of business
• Mr Birling's motto about family loyalty

  "A man has to make his own way - has to look after himself - and his family too"
• When faced with the consequences of his actions


  Mr Birling refuses to accept any blame
• Mr Birling's rejection of responsibility


  Seems to be a result of arrogance and disrespect for others
• Even after the family have been taught about the consequences of their actions, Mr Birling claims there's every excuse for what both he and Mrs Birling did
• Mrs Birling


  • Personifies the upper classes' contempt towards the poor and authorities' neglect of those in need
  • Like Mr Birling, she is committed to the idea of her own innocence, refusing to accept the smallest bit of the blame
  • Priestley uses her to suggest the hatred of social responsibility comes from classism and prejudice
• Mrs Birling is willing to condemn the anonymous father of Eva's unborn child


  But regrets this instantly when she finds out Eric is responsible
• Mrs Birling's class prejudice

  She believes she is automatically above suspicion because of her social standing, and that Eva's lower social status is a justifiable reason to abandon her
• As a prominent member of the Brumley Women's Charity Organisation, Mrs Birling has a duty of care to those who come to her, but she blatantly neglects this responsibility
• Priestley suggests the upper classes, particularly the older generation, are governed by bigotry and unrepentant in their actions
• Mrs Birling


  A "prominent member" of the Brumley Women's Charity Organisation, with a duty of care to those who come to her
• Mrs Birling neglects her social responsibility, as Priestley shows all institutions that are supposed to help others are intrinsically corrupt
• Mrs Birling: '"With dignity, we've done a great deal of useful work in helping deserving cases"'
• Mrs Birling's charity work

  Brings her a false sense of moral accomplishment
• Mrs Birling enjoys the recognition she gets from her charity work, but doesn't actually care for those who come to her, calling them "girl[s] of that sort"
• The adjective "deserving" foreshadows Mrs Birling's prejudice and harsh judgement
• Priestley argues that institutions of care are run by the upper classes, who despise the poor and care only about their own status, meaning the lower classes will never get the help they need
• Mrs Birling's refusal to take responsibility suggests she is insincere and callous
• The purpose of Mrs Birling's charity is to be an organisation "to which women in distress can appeal for help", but Mrs Birling refuses to help Eva, and this leads in part to her death
• Mrs Birling: '"I consider I did my duty [...] I've done nothing wrong"'
• Mrs Birling thinks her duty is to judge the monetary worth of women's cases and stop the working class telling "pack[s] of lies" to cheat the charity of money
• Mrs Birling is unmoved by Eva's suffering, signifying the heartlessness of the upper classes
• Mrs Birling's uncaring attitude


  Juxtaposed with Sheila's empathy
• Sheila: '"For letting father and me have her chucked out of her jobs!"'
• Priestley demonstrates how the older generation are content to blame the poor for their own problems, while the younger generation understand that the lower classes are subjected to events beyond their control
• Mrs Birling: '"Well, why shouldn't we?"'
• Priestley presents the older generation as remorseless, as they know they won't face any consequences, so see no reason to change their ways
• Priestley conveys this attitude to his audience to highlight the importance of holding the authorities accountable, as without challenging those in power, there will be no change
• The Inspector


  Priestley uses the Inspector to show that the values of Socialism - such as sharing, equality, community/the greater social good, and cooperation - can be applied outside of economic theory
• The Inspector: '"You're partly to blame. Just as your father is"'
• The Inspector: '"We have to share something. If there's nothing else, we'll have to share our guilt"'