An Inspector Calls - Key Quotations

1. “You’re squiffy” – Sheila to Eric (Act 1) • Shows Eric/ Sheila’s brother/ sister relationship. • Colloquial
language set period. • Shows Eric drinks too much.
2. “I speak as a hard-headed business man.” (Act 1) • Shows Mr Birling is hard-hearted. • Shows pride in his
hard-won success.
3. “Unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable.” Mr Birling (Act 1) • Dramatic irony – audience knows something the
characters don’t. • Titanic is a metaphor for the family and its privileged position.
4. “We really must stop these silly pretences.” Sheila to Mrs Birling (Act 2) • Sheila understands the
Inspector’s message. • Shows a division growing between Sheila and her mother. • Shows that Sheila
understands the need to stop lying. (Key theme)
5. “Girls of that class.” Mrs Birling to the Inspector (Act 2) • Shows Mrs Birling thinks she is socially and
morally superior. • Almost as though the poor are by definition squalid and worthless. • Emphasis on “that”
shows her disgust in the working class.
6. “She was very pretty – soft brown hair and big dark eyes.” Gerald (Act 2) • Gerald’s language stresses the
difference between Eva and “women of the town” who he calls “hard-eyed” and “dough-faced”. • By stressing
the positive aspects of Eva, it makes her mistreatment seem even more cruel.
7. “You’re not the kind of father a chap could go to when he’s in trouble.” Eric (Act 2) • The Birlings are not
only hard-hearted towards the working class, but they are also inadequate parents. • Birling says his son has
been spoilt, and he is more concerned with covering up Eric’s wrongdoings so to avoid a social scandal.
8. “We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other.” The Inspector (Act 3) • The core
message of the Inspector and the play. • Directly contrasts with Birling’s message of ‘every man for himself’. •
The message applies to all the characters and the audience.
9. “Everything’s all right now, Sheila.” Gerald to Sheila (Act 3) • This shows Gerald has not understood the
message. • He cannot see that Sheila has been changed by the revelations. • He offers Sheila the ring, showing
how complacent he is.
10. “Each of you helped to kill her.” The Inspector (Act 3) • The Inspector sums up, showing that the morally
neglectful actions of the upper class family have condemned a working class girl to her death. • Nobody in the
family is without blame.
11. “Look Inspector, I’d give thousands…” Birling to the Inspector (Act 3) • Birling wouldn’t pay Eva Smith an
extra two shillings and sixpence but now offers thousands. • The offer is meaningless because it is not possible
to save Eva now. • It shows Birling thinks he can solve everything with money.
12. “We are responsible for each other.” The Inspector (Act 3) • Goole stresses that it is not enough just to keep
to a set of accepted manners. • We must all behave morally. • This would have extra resonance before the
Second World War – we cannot stand by and let fascism murder millions.
13. “Look at the way he talked to me…” Birling (Act 3) • Shows that Birling feels his social status entitles him
to different treatment.
14. “By Jingo! A fake!” “How do you know it’s the same girl?” • The Birlings are so desperate to believe their
own innocence that they are willing to believe a highly unlikely set of coincidences.
15. “That doesn’t matter to me.” Eric (Act 3) • The theories of innocence that Gerald and Birling are concocting
do not take away the fact that Eric feels guilty for his actions. • He is not willing to bury his head in the sand
and pretend he has done nothing wrong.
16. “I suppose we’re all nice people now.” Sheila (Act 3) • Sheila is bitter about her family’s reaction. • She is
appalled that they think they have done nothing wrong simply because they think the girl is not dead. • She
wants them to acknowledge that they have behaved appallingly.
17. “That was the police. A girl has just died – on her way to the infirmary.” • The twist in the tale. • Mr and
Mrs Birling, and Gerald, must face the reality of their actions. • Their denial is destroyed.