In JB Priestley's well-crafted allegorical thriller about moral principles and social and humanitarian conscience, the character of Eric Birling is developed from 'an ill-informed sexist character who blindly advocates the selfish materialist outlook and corresponding capitalist ideologies of his arrogant nouveau riche father; to the move from the Conservative Party to the socialist Labor Party and Priestley's liberal views. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Priestley presents Eric as an outcast in the first act, during the scene where he asks Mr. Birling about the war, but he intuitively rejects the idea. However, Eric persists and proclaims "Yes, I know, but still", before being interrupted again by his father. Primarily, it can be argued that the hyphens vividly and directly accentuate Eric's inaugurated outcast image that he is forced to portray, and how unsure he is of his suggestion due to his indecisive approach and hesitant in his speech. The fact that Eric is interrupted corroborates how separated Eric is from his family and how invisible he is to them, to the point where he intervenes in his father's speeches to prove himself to them. However, his prolongation in questioning his father demonstrates to the audience that Eric is indeed more "assertive" than he pretends to be and foreshadows his acceptance of his responsibilities later in the play. Here, Priestley makes the dichotomy between the generation gap clear, as Eric represents the impending moral and societal revolution that will take place during the two world wars and women's rights, while the character of Mr. Birling is cleverly constructed to represent and symbolize everything that is wrong with the Edwardian era. However, a change is quickly brought before the audience when Eric says, "Why shouldn't they try to get higher salaries?" Here, Priestley defends Sigmund Freud, an Austrian neurologist, and his theory of the Oedipus complex, because it shows a significant change in Eric's character as he challenges the authority of Mr. Birling's ideology over the mistreatment of the working class. This is symbolic for both the play and Eric's character change, as it foreshadows Eric's influence on Priestley's socialist beliefs of treating society fairly. Eric's obnoxious attributes show that he has gone from being an outcast in his family to being able to openly challenge his father's opinions. It can be argued that Inspector Calls not only expresses a political message, but also portrays a moral message. Priestley uses the 7 deadly sins quite intelligently to present the well-made thriller in this way. Eric's character is constructed through authorial intent as Priestley uses him as a pawn to get his social messages across. As Inspector Calls is a morality play, Priestley metaphorically accuses Eric of the sins of gluttony and lust. This can be seen in Priestley's manipulation in the dialogue "I wasn't in love with her {..} she was pretty and a good sport". Mainly, it can be argued that "pretty" implies that he first perceives Eva's external characteristics and not the difficulties she encounters, which explicitly shows his superficial values ​​for women. This corroborates and obscures Gerald's point of view when he says, "I didn't put her there so I could make love to her", demonstrating that Eric and Gerald objectify women and make it clear that they see them ;.