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Mr Birling is a business man whose main concern is making money. This is what is most important to him and he comes across as being greedy. clothes mean something quite different to a woman. Not just something to wear - and not only something to make 'em look prettier.'"
AQA English Language Paper 1 and Paper 2 Knowledge Organisers](http://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/-12063979) Beyond’s An Inspector Calls Revision Guide contains detailed An Inspector Calls character analysis and quotes, providing profiles of each character, including their context, relationships with other characters and useful deductions. Key quotes for each character in An Inspector Calls are also provided to help students to understand their role in the play and reinforce important moments. Our An Inspector Calls character analysis and quotes focus on the following characters: Birling shows little respect to the younger generation, certainly none for Eva and he even tries to ignore and patronise his own children. He constantly dismisses and belittles Eric and he talks to Sheila as if she is a child. Sheila: ‘No, not really. It was my own fault. [Suddenly, to Gerald] All right, Gerald, you needn’t look at me like that. At least, I’m trying to tell the truth. I expect you’ve done things you’re ashamed of too.’ Gerald: ‘I hate those hard-eyed dough-faced women. But then I noticed a girl who looked quite different. She was very pretty -‘Sheila: ‘except for all last summer, when you never cam near me, and I wondered what had happened to you.’ Inspector: ‘This girl killed herself – and died a horrible death. But each of you helped to kill her. Remember that. Never forget it. But then I don’t think you ever will. Remember what you did, Mrs Birling.’ This abrupt line of dialogue shows how initially Gerald is very evasive about his involvement with Eva Smith and wants to close down the topic as soon as possible.
It is a closed-book exam, which means you will not have access to a copy of the text in your exam (and there is no printed extract from the text on your question paper, unlike in Paper 1)Section A of Paper 2 contains the An Inspector Calls question and you are required to answer one question on the play from a choice of two Birling: ‘it happened more than eighteen months ago – nearly two years ago – obviously it has nothing whatever to do with the wretched girl’s suicide. Eh, Insepctor?’ Eric: ‘What’s the use of talking about behaving sensibly? You’re beginning to pretend now that nothing’s really happened at all. And I can’t see it like that. This girl’s still dead, isn’t she? Nobody’s brought her to life, have they? Sheila and Eric begin to stand up to their parents when they see Mr and Mrs Birling will not accept responsibility for their actions. They challenge their old views and won’t ignore things as they had done at the beginning of the play.
Eric: ‘ The money’s not the important thing. It’s what happened to the girl and what we all did to her that matters. And I still feel the same about it, and that’s why I don’t feel like sitting down and having a nice cosy talk.’ Mrs Birling has views entrenched in the unequal gender roles she has lived with her whole life. She doesn’t feel any solidarity with Eva as a woman. She sees her as inferior and untrustworthy because she is from the lower classes.
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The younger generation (Sheila and Eric) is more easily influenced by the inspector (and therefore Priestley). Sheila and Eric accept responsibility for their mistakes and offer the possibility of a brighter future. Birling tries to stop the Inspector talking to Mrs Birling and Sheila. He feels this is a conversation for men alone.
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