How does Priestley explore responsibility in An Inspector Calls?

The theme of responsibility is central to the play An Inspector Calls and through the
actions of the characters, Priestley demonstrates to the watching society that everyone
has a collective responsibility to each other in a successful and fair society.
Firstly the pompous and arrogant Mr. Birling begins by showing that he believes that
he has a responsibility to “his own” and no-one else. The pronoun “his” has an
implied ownership and this is central to his belief system of materialistic possession.
He calls socialists “cranks” and criticizes what they stand for as he wants nothing
more than “lower costs and higher prices.” This link to capitalism shows that Mr.
Birling believes his responsibility is to business and money making, and therefore he
appears to be quite callous and unfeeling in his attitudes towards people. The
statement could almost be seen as ironic as Birling is speaking in a purely monetary
sense and yet Priestley may also be trying to suggest that “lower costs” leads to the
“higher price” being human life.
The cost of caring only about money is demonstrated in Birling’s treatment of Eva
Smith who is viewed as “cheap labour” as opposed to a human being. This makes his
a very unlikeable character for an audience who have just lived through war and have
keenly experienced the loss of people and loved ones. However, as if to further
discredit all that Birling stands for, the use of dramatic irony in mentioning the
“unsinkable” Titanic and the idea that “the Germans don’t want war” shows that his
ideals are untrustworthy and, in fact, the audience should believe the very opposite of
this character. Birling refuses to take any responsibility in the death of Eva Smith and
at the end he is relieved, not to find out no-one has died, but because there will be no
“public scandal.” Priestley is highlighting these self-centred actions as a way of
demonstrating to the audience that the pre-war class system was flawed.
Mrs. Birling also holds similar values to her husband. When discovering her
involvement with the death she repeatedly blames the father of Eva’s child saying,
“it’s the father’s responsibility.” The fact that she is trying to blame others aligns her
to the same ideals as Mr. Birling, along with the use of dramatic irony again used to
discredit what she stands for. She is seemingly the only character not aware of the
implication towards her own son. This is interesting as Birling at the start stated his
main responsibility was to “his own” and yet both parents seem unaware of what this
means, and in many ways they have failed this responsibility both being linked to the
death of Eva and subsequently their own grandchild.
A character who does demonstrate the true meaning of responsibility is Shelia.
Initially she seems much the same as her parents with quite childish tendencies, “Oh
look mummy,” but as the play develops is seems this was more through naivety to the
struggles of the working classes. Sheila is the first to defend Eva Smith and thus the
working classes declaring, “they’re not cheap labour, they’re people.” This not only
juxtaposes her father’s attitudes but is the start of her accepting her responsibility as
an adult and forming her own ideals. Priestley presents the character as someone who
is able to change and by the end she has matured a great deal thus showing the
audience that they too have the power to change and that accepting responsibility can
be a positive experience.
Priestley also shows that Shelia has learnt from the experience and is taking her new
knowledge of social responsibility seriously when she stands up to her parents saying
“it scares me the way you talk.” The verb “scares” is significant as it shows that
people who do not take responsibility i.e. her parents as seemingly out of control and
could potentially be very damaging to society. Priestley is perhaps highlighting that
there is much to be learnt for the recent wars and those that refuse to do so are a
danger to progression in the future.
The most significant character to link to the theme is the Inspector who, arguably,
reflects the views of Priestley himself. His final speech is almost entirely focused on
the theme and the idea that we are “members of one body.” This links to the idea of
socialism and collective responsibility if society is to function fully. The reference to
“millions and millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths” reminds the
audience that while Eva Smith in the play is fictional the experiences and lifestyle she
led is not. The use of the polysyndetic list is significant is driving home the force of
the message and just how widespread the need for change is. The use if the name
Smith is important, being the most popular surname in the country at the time, the
audience are likely to know someone with the name and therefore it adds a personal
association with the plight of the character. The audience may well take on the idea of
responsibility if linked to a person they know as opposed to a purely fictional person.
Throughout the play we see characters accept and deny their individual responsibility
in the fictional case and yet is it clear that the message of collective responsibility is
not fictional. It could be argued that that phone call at the end of the play is history
reliving itself as the older Birlings were still not seeing their collective role in society
and until everyone is willing to take their responsibility seriously such stories of
anguish will continue. Priestley is trying to guard against this happening again by
using a visual stimulus for this message.