Priestly presents contrasting attitudes towards social responsibility through the clear divide in generations, with the older Birlings being a symbol of outdated, individualistic ideologies contrasting to the younger Birlings who represent potential for community and growth. He uses the Inspector as a mouthpiece and didactic vehicle of socialism to deliver his message, condemning the obdurate capitalist views of Mr and Mrs Birling and comparing them to the developing sense of responsibility and acceptance in Sheila and Eric.

The younger generation is crafted by Priestly to be open to change and acceptance, in turn making them a symbol of social responsibility. We see this through Sheila’s metaphor “between us we drove that girl to suicide”. The collective pronouns “us” and “we” prove that she is aware of the collective damages made and wants everyone responsible to take accountability for their wrongdoing. It is a pivotal moment for collective responsibility as she acknowledges that each family member’s selfish actions from her own jealousy to her parents’ cruelty, contributed to Eva’s death. The verb “drove” further suggests their involvement by explaining that their actions were active, not passive and highlights the theme that society is responsible for the well being of its members, which in turn proves the younger generation’s acceptance of social responsibility. This phrase also mirrors the Inspector’s message, which is why we can say she is the Inspectors proxy- an individual who takes on the role of another. She becomes the moral compass and repeats the inspector’s message of social responsibility- even repeating his triplet of "fire and blood and anguish" - which isn’t well reciprocated by the older generation who accuse her of being “overtired”. Although her attempts to convert her capitalist parents may not have been successful, she still embodies the possibility of change. Priestly shows through the character of Sheila that self awareness and acceptance of responsibility can create a fairer future of hope and community. By being the Inspector’s proxy, she also inherits his values, and the fact that he was an advocate of social responsibility, inherently proves Sheila’s accepting attitudes towards it too.

In contrast to Sheila and Eric, the older generation is constructed by Priestly to be symbols of continuity and superficiality. We see this in Mr Birling’s exclamative “there’ll be a public scandal!” when in discussion after the final interrogation of the Inspector. The audience would assume that the Inspector's absence would cause mass guilt and desperation to mend the moral crimes committed but we see that instead of taking social responsibility, Mr Birling's priorities lay elsewhere. The punctuation "!" connotes great importance and worry, proving to us as an audience his priorities lie not in taking accountability for his moral sins but in his vanity and reputation. This asserts his character as static and superficial and proves his inability to accept any social responsibility. Another example of his priorities getting in the way of social responsibility was when he [unhappily] attempted to bribe the Inspector with "thousands" to eliminate the 'problem'. The stage direction [unhappily] clarifies his insincerity and shallowness when he should be reflecting and apologising and his attempt to use his wealth highlights his character as stagnant and unrepentant, in turn proving his intolerant attitudes towards social responsibility. Priestly was a socialist playwright and promoted socialist ideas such as social responsibility through characters such as Mr Birling. Birling is a microcosm of capitalism and is a caricature of capitalist greed and individualism which in turn makes him unlikeable to the audience, who was predominantly socialist in 1945. Through Mr Birling's distaste for socialism and collective responsibility, Priestly promotes social responsibility by constructing him and Mrs Birling to be easily dislikeable individuals. By listening to their flawed ideologies, the audience are forced to prefer socialism and collective responsibility to outdated capitalism in the same way in which they prefer the younger generation (who represent socialism) to the older generation (who represent capitalism). Therefore although Mr Birling clearly displays his ignorant attitude towards social responsibility, he encourages the audience to accept it.

Finally, Priestly uses the Inspector as a didactic vehicle of socialism in order to promote collective responsibility and in turn be scathing of contrasting capitalist ideologies. His systematic methodical questioning exposes how each character’s actions are interlinked and have far reaching consequences for Eva Smith, demonstrating the play’s central theme of social responsibility. This is seen in the metaphor “we are all members of one body.” which emphasises the theme that we are not isolated individuals but act as part of a whole and are responsible for one another’s well being. As a mouthpiece for the socialist playwright Priestly, the Inspector promotes a socialist viewpoint over the Birling family’s selfish capitalist focused views. It also critiques individualism as it is used to show the Birlings that their selfish actions are not isolated incidents but actually connected parts in a tragedy that lead to Eva’s demise, same way in which we are connected parts in a whole. By showing the connected crimes of the Birlings, social responsibility is presented as a moral duty, in the sense that if responsibility is taken, together we can prevent further suicides of the “millions and millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths.” This proves that you should have positive and accepting attitudes towards social responsibility if you care about the lives of others.

In conclusion, Priestly presents attitudes towards social responsibility as differing but uses devices such as the Inspector and younger generation to encourage the audience to accept it and adopt socialist attitudes. It is established as morally superior in the play due to the fact that the only individuals not accepting responsibility in An Inspector calls are presented in a negative, antagonistic light, making them appear immoral, selfish and greedy- all traits that align with capitalism. Priestly's message of social responsibility is powerful and still relevant for the present audience for example his message could be applied to global warming- lack of efforts made to save our planet but consequences will affect everyone. Attitudes towards social responsibility lie within morality and conscience and is widely seen as the righteous option compared to selfish individualism.