Age differences-so confident, arrogance is made very clear, 2 years later Titanic sunk, the audience loses trust in him as a character......extended metaphor for the events that will take place in the Birling family, so confidence in his social class, in-denial of disaster in any form, dramatic irony- ironic that the Titanic sinks just like their family does, metaphor for what is about to happen to their family.....older generations are less likely to change their views- links to authors purpose and placing the future in younger generations to see change