How is the theme of social responsibility presented in ‘An Inspector Calls’?

Priestley presents social responsibility as something imperative to human society; after interrogating the Birlings, the Inspector finishes by informing them of the importance of social responsibility, saying that if humanity fails to take the lesson on board ‘they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish’. The language used is violent and aggressive, demonstrating that lessons of social responsibility must be learned to avoid unpleasant consequences (^{lang. analysis}) - the necessity of being socially responsible becomes clear. This is reinforced through the pronoun ‘they’, which illustrates that this lesson does not solely apply to the Birlings – it applies to society as a whole. This ties into the context of the play; first performed in 1947, audiences had lived through the horrors of two world wars (^{context analysis}). However, the play is set in 1912. In talking of such violence, then, the Inspector seems prophetic, and thus his lessons of social responsibility resonate harder as it is suggested that they must be taken on board to avoid further horrors. Priestley's use of structure plays a role here; the Inspector’s final lines take the form of a monologue. As such, it is as if the audience themselves are being lectured on the importance of social responsibility too. (^{structure analysis}) Therefore, the importance of social responsibility to society beomes clear - it has to be adopted to avoid terrible consequences.