Download our SSCE Study Guide Bundle
In this section, we have handpicked some quotes we find interesting from An Inspector Calls by J. B. Priestley, and examined their significance in terms of meaning making in the text.
“…a man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own—and—— [We hear the sharp ring of a front door bell.]”
Speaker: Mr. Arthur Birling
Birling is delivering a pompous lecture to Eric and Gerald in Act 1, where he outlines his capitalist, self-centred philosophy of life right before the inspector arrives. This is the structural catalyst of the play. The use of stagecraft (the sharply timed sound effect of the doorbell) acts as a literal and symbolic interruption of capitalist ideology by the voice of the socialist conscience (the inspector).
“But these girls aren’t cheap labour—they’re people.”
Speaker: Sheila Birling
Sheila says this in Act 1, immediately after her father justifies firing Eva Smith to keep his business costs down. It highlights Sheila’s capacity for empathy and marks the beginning of her moral development. The stark juxtaposition and contrast between the noun phrase “cheap labour” (a capitalist commodity) and “people” (humanity) provides excellent material for analysing diction and shifting character ideologies.
“…it’s better to ask for the earth than to take it.”
Speaker: Inspector Goole
The inspector says this in Act 1 to counter Mr. Birling’s claim that if he didn’t come down sharply on his workers “they’d soon be asking for the earth”. The inspector uses Birling’s own hyperbole (“asking for the earth”) and turns it into a sharp, witty epigram. It is a veiled critique of the upper classes who “take” the earth (wealth and power) through exploitation, while condemning the poor who merely “ask” for a living wage.
“As if a girl of that sort would ever refuse money!”
Speaker: Mrs. Sybil Birling
In Act 2, Mrs. Birling is dismissing Eva Smith’s claim that she refused to take stolen money from the father of her unborn child. The euphemism “a girl of that sort” perfectly encapsulates Mrs. Birling’s deep-seated social snobbery and her prejudiced assumption that the working classes lack morality. It is also a brilliant example of dramatic irony, as the audience suspects (and soon learns) that the thief offering the money is her own upper-class son, Eric.
“The money’s not the important thing. It’s what happened to the girl and what we all did to her that matters.”
Speaker: Eric Birling
In Act 3, after the inspector has left and the older generation begins trying to cover up the scandal, Eric furiously rebels against his father’s obsession with the stolen cash. This quote shows Eric’s complete character arc from an awkward, pampered boy to a man awakened to moral truth. The contrasting sentence structure allows us to contrast the older generation’s fixation on material wealth (“the money”) with the younger generation’s acceptance of collective guilt (“what we all did to her”).
“We don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other. And I tell you that the time will soon come when, if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish.”
Speaker: Inspector Goole
This is haunting final warning of the inspector’s departing speech in Act 3 before he leaves the family. It is the ideological climax of the play. The use of short, definitive sentences and the anaphora of “we” creates a powerful rhetorical effect. The metaphor “members of one body” directly counters Birling’s earlier simile comparing community to “bees in a hive”. Furthermore, the tricolon “fire and blood and anguish” acts as a prophetic allusion to the two World Wars, thereby elevating the inspector from a mere police officer to a timeless, omniscient moral judge.
Related:
- Plot Summary and Analysis of An Inspector Calls by J. B. Priestley
- Dramatic Techniques in An Inspector Calls by J. B. Priestley
- Characterisation in An Inspector Calls by J. B. Priestley
Receive Literary Updates through our Social Media Channels:
- WhatsApp: Literature PADI or Literature-in-English with LP
- Telegram: Literature PADI
- YouTube: @literaturepadi
- Facebook: Literature PADI
