John Boynton Priestley’s ‘An Inspector Calls’ is a magnificent play with lots if twists throughout the play. Most of this, I think, happening because of the inspector. The inspector is the catalyst of events. Throughout the play, he has created an impression of ‘massiveness, solidity and purposefulness and has a disconcerting habit of looking hard at the person he addresses before actually speaking’. He knows when and what to speak. And one of the most important strengths of the inspector is that he knows how to deal with situations such as Sheila upsetting herself saying:
“(eagerly) Yes, and it’s my fault. And I know I’m to blame- and I’m desperately sorry- but I can’t believe- I won’t believe- it’s simply my fault…”
But then Sheila is easy on the inspector, he comforts her (“But if you’re easy with me, I’m easy with you) by saying:
(Sternly to them both) “You see, we have to share something…- and at this point, Sheila realises that the inspector knew the story all the time, she shares her idea to Gerald saying:
(Laughs rather hysterically) Why you fool- he knows. Of course he knows. And I hate to think how much he knows that we don’t know yet…”
Aside from being adaptable, he also uses a methodical approach:
“It’s the way I like to go to work. One person and one line of inquiry at a time. Otherwise there’s a muddle.”
Normally, a police inspector would not insist on this. He would see them alone in their own time.
Without the inspector’s purposefulness, each character could not, or would not have acknowledged each and everyone’s behaviour and secrets would not be revealed.
Also, strangely, his statement that it is his duty “to (only) ask questions” and not weighing in the punishments from their actions. His concern is more about moral law than criminal law; is concerned with what is right or wrong than what is legal or illegal; and his concern for moral law not for criminal law. Two quotes are:
“I never take offence” and
“We don’t live alone. We are one members of one body. We are responsible for one another.”
Also, his statement that he does not see much of the chief constable and his failure to be aware/alarmed by Birling’s threats gives us more ideas about police inspector Goole. It is clearer if you think deep during the fast paced play in a room full of tension is that you would see some cracks that develop about the inspector’s identity. His reply to Mr. Birling:
Mr. B: “You sure of your facts?”
Inspector: “Some of them- yes.”
Mr. B: “I can’t think they can be of any consequence.”
Then, an unorthodox speech that a police inspector would never say to such a respectable citizen:
Inspector: “The girl’s still dead though.”- Which is still and yet to commit suicide a few minutes on the inspector’s exit.
I think the inspector is Priestley’s ‘vehicle’ of portraying his own views of this as a socialist (Birling being the capitalist).
With the inspector (Priestley’s voice) saying:
“We are members of one body”- he proved that Birling saying:
Birling: “Every man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own.”
The inspector’s rule is that this is not the case. He demonstrates how people are responsible for how he affects the lives of each other. Sheila with the same reason:
“But it didn’t seem to be anything very terrible at the time.”
The inspector’s attitude is not affected by any of the character’s actions. For example, Mrs. Birling’s attitude of being bossy, threatening and intimidating. Instead, he calmly progresses step by step, always controlled, in charge, and focused. The inspector values truth more than truth more than respect and reputation (in the case of the Birlings). Like Gerald saying:
“We’re respectable citizens and not criminals.” And the inspector says:
“Sometimes there isn’t as much difference (being equal) as you think”.
The inspector keeps on saying that he (or us as the audience) hasn’t got much time- time to change our way of living, our views to other people, and our way in how we treat the less fortunate than us.
“And my trouble is that I haven’t much time.” And
“Don’t worry Mr. Birling. I shall do my duty.”
-His duty not only to ask questions but also to promote socialism. We haven’t got much time to change (if not ‘fire, blood and anguish will take over) our attitudes, our over confidence, and our views of lower and higher class citizens.
The Inspector's interrogation of each individual character does more than add to the prevailing tension. The characters slowly reveal to the audience the great moral divide between the two generations. Eric and Sheila, from the outset, are visibly shaken by the news of Eva Smith, whilst their parents grow increasingly defensive about their involvement with the girl's death. The children show compassion and deep regret for what has happened to Eva. Eric's sensitivity is evident in:
I understand a lot of things now I didn't understand before.
In contrast to Eric's understanding we realise Mrs Birling's arrogance and apathy in:
Well, really, I don't know. I think we've just about come to an end of this wretched business -
Mr Birling displays similar arrogance when the Inspector reminds him that:
Public men ... have responsibilities as well as privileges.
To this Mr Birling replies:
Possibly. But you weren't asked to come here to talk about my responsibility.
It becomes clear that Eric and Sheila are empathetic while their parents remain rooted in their denial of the truth
The positive response of the younger generation is indeed symbolic. Whilst Mr and Mrs Birling respond negatively to the Inspector's message of common responsibility, our faith is restored by the children's positive attitudes. Eric and Sheila symbolise hope for the future. The fact that they remorsefully admit to sinning against Eva Smith suggests that they (and the future generation of adults) will make a conscious effort at improving human relations. The younger generation, Eric and Sheila, opens up their minds about what the inspector would like to portray.
Unlike their parents, who are bent on only creating and sustaining material wealth, they will endeavour to create and sustain spiritual, meaningful social relationships by fulfilling their moral obligations towards their fellow men - especially those oppressed and desperate people such as Eva Smith. Mr. and Mrs. Birling (and perhaps Gerald) is not feeling that they are responsible for this and do not see any moral of the story.
Also, you can only speculate on the aims of a playwright in writing a play. In the case of ‘An Inspector Calls’ a valid speculation would be that the author aimed to educate the audience through the character’s realisation of their role in Eva Smith’s demise and thus their individual responsibility towards other people.
The inspector’s role in the play is not simply to confront each character with the truth, but to force each character to admit the truth they already know. Throughout the play he demonstrates how people are responsible for how they affect the lives of others; his views are summed up in his visionary and dramatic final speech: that 'we are members of one body. We are responsible for each other'). Responsibility is one of the play's two key themes, and the Inspector is Priestley's vehicle for putting across his own views of this as a socialist. In this final speech, he is speaking as much to the audience as to the characters on stage. His words here are a warning to an audience in 1945 not to repeat the selfish mistakes that led to the 'fire and blood and anguish' of two World Wars and the years between them. The inspector also knew every single detail about Eva Smith since she got sacked at Mr. Birling’s company in comparing that the fact that the inspector did not meet her(except for the photograph- of it is really Eva Smith).
Birling: (starring at the inspector) “What did you say your name was inspector?”
Inspector: “Goole. G. double O- L- E.”
His name, Goole (ghoul?), gives him a mysterious, disturbing quality - a ghoul is a spirit which takes fresh life from corpses, and we could certainly argue that the Inspector's existence is a result of the girl's death. If he is not a real Inspector, what is he? A clever impostor (but nonetheless human) ? The personification of the social conscience the characters all lack or suppress? A supernatural, God-like being (for he certainly seems to know what each character has done, without being told)? The reproachful spirit of the girl's dead child ? Despite the importance in the local community of people like Gerald and he seems to control what people say. Sheila tells Gerald: 'somehow he makes you'. But he does not control their reactions - he only uses his information about the girl's life and character, her diary and a letter, her photograph, and constant reminders of the horrific death she has suffered, to create the possibility for others to face up to what they have done. They must decide whether to change or not - Sheila and Eric do; the Birlings and perhaps Gerald do not. The Inspector has a moral dimension which makes him different from an ordinary policeman: he is more concerned with right and wrong than with what is legal. He sternly tells Birling, for example, that 'it's better to ask for the earth [as a worker might do] than to take it (which Birling does). But he also tells the characters that 'if you're easy with me, I'm easy with you'- he has compassion for those who are willing to accept their responsibility, but nothing as simple as forgiveness.
Inspector Goole's remark:
“But each of you helped to kill her. Remember that. Never forget it.”
It’s important and we should all learn from it because Eva Smith does represent millions of similarly desperate people "with their lives, their hopes and fears, their suffering and chance of happiness, all intertwined with our lives, with what we think and say and do. We don't live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other." Goole reminds us that if man will not learn the lesson of "common responsibility", then "they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish."
In the final analysis, it becomes evident that success for the future lies with the younger generation. Whilst Mr Birling, to the very end, insists on regarding the Inspector's visit as a 'joke', it is Eric who restores our hope when he says:
"And I say the girl's dead and we all helped to kill her - and that's what matters -."
Eric's admission confirms that Inspector Goole's visit was justified and that valuable lessons were learned. This confirms that Inspector Goole is indeed more than a staging device. He proves to be a powerful force, a catalyst whose skilful and disciplined investigative approach is both instrumental and victorious in initiating positive change in the hearts, the minds and the attitudes of Eric and Sheila and thereby increases our optimism and faith that disadvantaged people will in the future be treated with dignity and respect.
Each character is punished in an appropriate way. Birling fears for his family's reputation at the inquest; Sheila feels shame for her selfishness; Gerald has his affair revealed in front of Sheila; Mrs Birling has her illusions about the respectability of her family shattered by Eric; and Eric is revealed before his indulgent parents as a spoilt and inadequate young man. But notice how in each case the punishment is a consequence of their own behaviour; the Inspector himself does not bring punishment from outside. Perhaps this is why they are given a second chance at the end of the play - that their experience should have been a warning to them, and that next time, it is the apocalyptic future predicted by the Inspector's final speech that lies in store for them and for us.
Summary: The Inspector sees through each character. He forces each character to admit what they already secretly know. He is Priestley's vehicle for his views on social responsibility. He is the catalyst for the play's events. He controls the play's events. He has a moral dimension. He brings about each character's punishment through their own actions. He is each character's last chance to change.
An Inspector Calls Coursework
By: John Boynton Priestly
Submitted by:
Jayven Rolf T. Cuaresma
10 Middleton
