Mr Birling

• Key words

  • business man
  • patronising
  • prejudice
  • hypocritical
  • ignorant
  • ironic
• Essay structure

  • Intro
  • Engagement
  • Interrogation
  • Eric's scandal
  • Reaction to fake inspector
  • Phone call
• During Gerald and Sheila's engagement Mr Birling tries to impress Gerald with the port his father buys. He is self obsessed and makes the engagement into a business opportunity 'lower costs, higher prices'. He is naïve and wrong about the war and the titanic 'unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable'.
• During Mr Birling's interrogation he thinks he has power over the Inspector because of his class- 'sit down Inspector'. Mr Birling is overpowered by the Inspector when he '(cutting through massively)'. Mr Birling doesn't care about Eva and thinks she is a waste of time when he is '(waiting impatiently)'. He thinks Eva is a 'wretched girl', he has no compassion and doesn't use her name to detach meaning from her death. He thinks Eva doesn't deserve it because of her class and what she did to his company.
• During Eric's scandal, Mr Birling was more concerned with the theft than his own son. He was worried about his reputation along with his company, Mr Birling was also worried about his knighthood. He is unloving, the Inspector shows more compassion when offering Eric a drink. Mr Birling cares more about money and business as he says 'Ive got to cover this up as soon as i can'
• When Mr Birling reacts to the Inspector being a fake he is ironic when he says 'he was prejudice from the beginning'. This shows his naïvity, ignorance and his dismissal of the Inspector's teachings . He congratulates Gerald for figuring it out- '(excitedly)'.
• During the first phone call, Mr Birling is very happy with himself as there is no public scandal. He celebrates even though they have still commited their moral crimes. This shows his twisted views and how he only cares about himself and his reputation.

  During the final phone call Mr Birling is worried about a scandal and talks in a '(panic stricken fashion)'. They have not learnt their lesson.