mr birling — DONE

“these cranks […] think everybody has to look after everybody else, as if we were all mixed up together like bees in a hive”

—the distant demonstrative determiner points outs the LC as ‘cranks’ and generalises all of them into one group, dehumanising each persons individual values

— he is also purposely creating a division between him and the WC, he belittles them to make himself feel superior, showing upper class prejudice

— the derogatory noun ‘cranks’ suggest someone that is strange and holds different ideas to others, he’s using this term to humiliate others to pacify their ideas, socialism. It also shows how narrow minded Mr Birling is, just because they don’t share the same values/ideas that he has, he has to ridicule and dismiss them as a whole.

— repetition of collective noun ‘everybody’ creates a monotone, continuous effect which suggests a mocking tone from mr b he disregards the belief of having to work together- finds it boring/ useless/ funny even.

— animalistic simile: Mr B’s attempt at mocking socialist sentiments but its highly ironic as ‘bees in a hive’ work well together so its a perfect analogy for how a successful society works- each citizen has a role to fulfil that benefits all.

“ I’m convinced it is a hoax. No police inquiry. No one girl that all this happened to. No scandal.”— ACT 3

→ hoax — noun — highlights edwardian capitalistic ignorance and dillusion, shows his stisisity as a character, and allows him to invanlidate everything the inspector said so he can protect his reputation, wealth and social standing

The UPC will cling to any excuse to avoid accountability

→ the certain verb ‘convinced’ shows unwavering belief that he is right despite no proper proof, highlights desperation to deny guilt

→ repition negative determiner ‘No’ , declerative hes sure of it, and there’s no possibility, he’s trying to clear himself of any involvement with Eva— ignorant and shows his releif and triumph as he thinks he has escaped with consequences

Also highlights his obsession with legal technicalities not actual morality or conscience - shows how UPC believe if the law isnt involved theyre innocent

→ ‘no scandal’ he only fears the threat of persecution not taking responsibility, its a final statement blunt- refers to public shame not guilt hes only concerned about his reputation/ social image- selfish relief

‘Obviously nothing to do with the wretched girls suicide’

→the clear adverb ‘obviously’ shows his arrogance, he finds it obsurd that anyone would challege his authority as a UPC - unchecked pride.

→ ‘wretched’ contempt for those below him in the societal rankings- perphaps due to his initial social inferiority- lower classes remind him of his noveau riche ( when ur poor not rich) - thats why he makes hyperbolic capitalistic declerations- wants to prove his wealth to gerald and his wife who are of higher class

→ suicide her faut- difussing the blame and fully pinning the blame onto eva- his ignorace

→ lack of empathy — his cruetly he doesn’t care about the

“ clothes mean something quiet different to a woman […] a sort of sign or token of their self respect.”

→ collective singular ‘a woman’ mr b generalises women into one group and stereotypes them to be materialistically involved, which reinforces a patronising, gendered view of women as being emotionally attached to appearance— which is ironic as the patricarchal society set that system up

→ comperative adj ‘different’ implies a fundemental divide between men and women, reinforcing traditional gender roles where men are practical and women are superficial - priestley criticises these outdated sexist views using birlings casual tone how ingrained patricarchal attitudes were in edwardian society

→ metaphor of ‘sign or token’ - clothes act as symbols of identity especially for women, ‘sign’ ‘token’ imply external indicators of worth linking appearance w value and respect

→ vague phrase ‘sort of’ reveals mr b uncertainty of lack of insight, hes speaking on something he doesnt reuely understand— highlight how men in power often oversimplyfy womens experiences

→ abstract noun ‘self respect’ he dehumanises women and suggest their whole value lies in their appearance, its belitleing and strips them of intelligence and makes them seem superfical

‘ now listen you two, if youre still feeling on edge then the least you can do is to keep quiet. Leave this to us’

→ the imperative ‘listen’ he’s trying to take control of the situation and make them be silenced- could mirror how capitalist try to silence other ideas, socialism, in fear of it taking over - ‘keep quiet’ as well

→ shows his closed mindset hes not open to other ideas.

→ the insensitive ‘feeling on edge’ - he’s being dissmissive about they’re conflicted, guilt ridden emotions

→ the adverb ‘still’ he thinks that their new values and attitudes are just temporary and will soon past- he doesn’t believe that the inspector had a real, lasting impact and is ignorant of effects he had on them. He thinks everyone can just go back to how it was- hes static.

‘Somebody put that fellow up to coming here and hoaxing us[..] there people who dislike me enough to do that

→ colloquial term ‘fellow, is informal and dismissive, he uses this to describe the inspector which reduces his authority and shows mr birlings attempt to strip him of respectability, the phrase implies that the inspector manipulated or was sent by someone purposely to make them face their lessons.

→ passive structure ‘somebody put’ allows birling to avoid naming anyone directly which mirrors how he avoids taking accountability for his own actions throught the play, however it also implies that there is hollowness in his accusation, he has no evidence no proof just a way for him to shift the blame

→ hoaxing us- the pronoun he places himself and his family in the role of victims, using ‘us’ to deflect blame- shows his naivety and self serving

→ the emotive verb ‘dislike’ and intensifier ‘enough’ implies birling thinks that the inspectors visit was a conspiracy against him and his business which shows his narcissism and self importance- instead of focusing on the crux of the matter, the suffering eva smith endured, he makes this about himself and his business

To sheila “ if you had any sense of loyalty”

→ the conditional clause ‘if you had’ suggests that the person lacks fundementals required in a family and mr birilng is judging them. It is a form of emotional manipulation implying their behaviour is a betrayal

Reflects mr birlings authritarian and patricarchal expectations, to him loyalty is obedience not honestly

→ the abstract noun ‘loyalty’ is loaded with moral and emotional weight, but here is it sed to shame and guilt trip his children into silence and agreement

→ the phrase ‘any sense of’ is belittling and implies that sheila is deficient of moral character which is highly ironic as mr birling lacks moral responisbilty

It exposes birlings values loyalty to family, class and reputation over truth or justice - priestley is cirticising this kind of self serving moral code one that protects the powerful rather than helping he vulnerbale