Mr Birling is one of the principle characters in An inspector calls he is used to portray the

capitalist views held by the upper-class at the time. Mr Birling is presented by Priestly as the
stereotypical body of Capitalism by portraying him in a negative light allows the reader to draw
assumptions between the negative characteristics portrayed by Mr Birling and the negative aspects
of a capitalist society, which is what Priestly intended to do.

Our first impressions of Mr Birling come from the following quote used to describe him, 'heavy-
looking, rather pretentious' here Priestly immediately uses one of the seven deadly sins to describe
Mr Birling of gluttony as he appears well fed which is done by Priestly to create a stereotypical
image of all capitalist men. The use of the word 'pretentious' suggests that he is a fraud which
implies to the reader that all capitalist men are not what they appear to be they are simply images
which have been fabricated carefully in order to gain superiority over others. Mr Birling takes the
first line and last line in the play this could be due to the fact that he is the head of the family but
it could also be interpreted that this was done by Priestly to imply that the power over society at the
time was held by capitalist men so by beginning and ending with Mr Birling speaking suggests
that this has not changed.

Priestly uses dramatic irony throughout Mr Birling's speech as he describes the Titanic as
'unsinkable' and claims ' there isn't a chance of war.' This is done by Priestly to portray Mr Birling
as pompous and arrogant which is further developed as he states, ' we don't guess...we know.' His
narrow-minded views add a comedic element to the play as the reader has the benefit of hindsight
which makes Mr Birling come across as nothing but a foolish man. This has been done to portray to
the reader the arrogant nature of capitalist men but also to portray them as laughable Priestly is
presenting his own views here of Capitalism as he is suggesting that capitalist views are just that -
laughable.

Mr Birling wants to impress others which is shown when he tells Gerald he is likely to receive a
knighthood,' I might find my way onto the next honours list,' which reflects his own sense of self-
importance, he again asserts his own importance when he tells the Inspector, I was an alderman for
years and Lord Mayor two years ago and Im still on the Bench.' This expresses the value of
status to him as he feels his achievements and accolades are going to gain him more respect and
authority this expresses to the reader Mr Birling's desire for more and more power which
reinforces the idea that he is the representation of one of the seven deadly sins, gluttony. This
presents Mr Birling's main aim in life, 'lower costs and higher prices' supports this aim as his main
goal in life it to have a lot of money and power and is ruthless in his attempt to achieve this as he
sees people such as Eva Smith as, 'cheap labour.'

Upon first meeting the inspector, Mr Birling makes numerous references to his achievements, ' I
was Lord mayor two years ago,' in an attempt to 'boast' and to demand respect from him which is
unsuccessful. The inspector is unimpressed by Mr Birling's social standing as unlike Mr Birling he
does not value these things highly which is done by Priestly to portray his socialist views as here
he promotes socialism through the inspector. This is developed further as the inspector goes on to
mention the name 'Eva Smith' Mr Birling claims that the name,' doesn't convey anything to me.'
This shows Mr Birling's lack of care towards others as he cannot even remember the name of a
previous employee this portrays all capitalists as self-centred which is reinforced by Mr Birling's
previous speech where he stated, ' A man has to make his own way look after himself' which is
exactly what he does.
After learning of Eva Smith's death Mr Birling claims, ' Look inspector I'd give thousands yes
thousands' which expresses to the reader that he feels his money can solve everything for him
highlighting the shallow views held by capitalists at the time. These same views are also reflected
by Gerald another capitalist male who attempts to buy Sheila's love with an expensive
engagement ring. This introduces Ouspenky's theory to the play which suggests that after death we
will re-enter our lives in a continuous cycle of the same events from birth which will continue until
a significant change is made then the cycle will stop as allow you to escape from the repetitions.
Priestley uses this to represent Mr Birling as here he states that he is continually going around in
this cycle as they are incapable of making a significant change to break this cycle which also
portrays a key theme represented in the play of the notion of change which is un-welcomed by the
older generation. However, this could also interpret that this cycle will continue for generations to
come as these same capitalist views will be carried on by Gerald. This idea of cyclic events could
have also been used by Priestley to convey a sense of repetition of the same mistakes being made in
society at the time. The importance of money to him is also shown by his reaction to Eric stealing
money, ' I've got to cover this up as soon as I can,' here he is more concerned about avoiding a
scandal that he dismisses Eric's reason for stealing the money which shows his priorities are in
protecting his position of power. He doesn't appear to have any care towards Eric which is shown
when Eric states,' you're not the type of father a chap could go to.' This is developed further as Mr
Birling states to Eric, ' I blame you for this,' which highlights the flaws in his relationship with his
son but also shows Mr Birling trying to shift the blame onto his own son. This portrays capitalist
men as so low that they would result in blaming their own son before accepting any blame
themselves which is done by Priestly to portray capitalism in a negative light.

Mr Birling is unchanged by the end of the play, for him, the familys problems are over if the
Inspector was a hoax. - he admits to having had a bit of a scare, but he is relieved to have
avoided a public scandal'. Priestly ends the play with Mr Birling's final words,' A police inspector
is on his way over to ask some questions,' which again reflects Ouspenky's theory as it appears that
this cycle of events is continuing emphasising Mr Birling's inability to make a significant change.