An Inspector Calls by J.B Priestly
An Inspector Calls by J.B Priestly
'An Inspector Calls' is a very interesting and mysterious play and book. It leaves you with so many un-answered questions. Who is the police inspector? What did he want? Where did he come from? All these questions are all sensible and reasonable. In this essay I will be talking about 'Inspector Goole' and analyzing his character. I will be talking about whom I think he is and where he came from. There are so many different arguments for this play, as everyone will have their own opion.
Who is Inspector Goole? Is he really a police inspector or just a man trying to get revenge? There are so many different characters the inspector could be or represent. While I was reading the script, my first impression was that he was in fact an inspector, However as we read on further my thoughts began to change. Inspector Goole to me was a good character. I feel he was Eva Smiths/ Daisy Renton's guardian angel. This would explain his great sympathy towards Eva Smith. He was trying to help her, and was getting revenge on the people who lead a young girl to do that to herself. Although I think the Inspector was Eva's guardian angel, there are still many other theories I came up with. This play is quite personal, as everyone will see the story different and come up with their own conclusion. To me he could also be the spirit of Eva Smith, coming to explain her self so that her soul can rest in peace. The Inspector is what we like to call an Enigma- Something/someone that we are puzzled by and don't know anything about. I feel that the Inspector was definitely not there to cause anger or damage people lives. I think he was a good cause to the Birlings lives and it wasn't an evil attempt to ruin their lives.
The Inspector came to the Birlings house to represent the poor, the oppressed and the weak- he is like their voice, speaking for them, trying to help them. The Inspector came to the Birlings house to teach them a lesson. A lesson that no matter how much money you have, or how clever or smart you are, or if you nice clothes and furniture this does not change the fact that everyone is equal and that we should treat others the way we would like to be treated. He has come to represent them and explain this to the Birlings. They all feel very highly of themselves and it was this that lead a poor girl to not think so very highly of her self and caused her to kill herself. In the Inspectors final speech he makes it clearer that he is here to teach the Birlings a lesson. The way he said ' Just remember this, One Eva Smith is gone-but there are millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths still with us' he is saying that they have made one woman lead to suicide, but that doesn't mean it is to late to do the right thing and start treating other people with respect and feelings. The Inspector also says ' We are members of one body, we are responsible for each other'. By saying this he is trying to tell the Birlings that everyone lives together and to make this work we have to treat everyone equal, as everyone equal. He is also saying that each person had another person helping him or her for them to get where they are. The last line the Inspector says is quite important and dramatic ' I tell you that the time will come when, if men will not learn that lesson then they will be taught it in fire, blood and anguish' He is explaining to the Birlings that if they carry on treating people the way they are now, the world will turn into a very ugly place, and that if everyone were to treat others the way they had it would end in war. He is telling the Birlings to start over new and clean before matters get to bad.
Now, Why did the Inspector come to the Birlings house? On the surface he is there to question them on the death of Eva Smith and find out what really happened. However, Is this really why he has come to their home? Does the Inspector have an ulterior motive? I think the inspector didn't really come to the Birlings house to ask about Eva Smith, it seemed he already knew everything there was to know about her death. So why else would he show up at there house? I think the Inspector used Eva's death as an excuse ...
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Now, Why did the Inspector come to the Birlings house? On the surface he is there to question them on the death of Eva Smith and find out what really happened. However, Is this really why he has come to their home? Does the Inspector have an ulterior motive? I think the inspector didn't really come to the Birlings house to ask about Eva Smith, it seemed he already knew everything there was to know about her death. So why else would he show up at there house? I think the Inspector used Eva's death as an excuse to make the Birlings exam themselves and teach them a lesson on how they should be treating others. The Inspector just used the suicide to show them what they are doing to the world and other humans, to show them that why should Eva have been treated in any other way from another human being? What did she do that was so terrible to deserve this? The inspector uses all these happenings so the Birlings realize what they have done, and sort it out. He has come to teach them a lesson.
The Inspector is not really there to achieve anything to do with information on Eva Smith's / Daisy Renton's death. He already knows all about this, he doesn't need any more information. He is really there hoping to have an effect on the Birlings life. He wants them to realize what they have done and are still doing to people; they shut the world out and live as if they are the only family on earth. The inspector uses Eva's death to show the family this. He also wants to show them that there is no way they can carry on living and treating people the way they do. Thinking that they are the only people that matter. He hopes to achieve changing this. He wants an impact on their lives so they behave like normal human beings with open minds.
Inspector Goole behaves in a very blunt way. He doesn't waist any time he just gets straight to the point. He has an amazing way of not even having to say anything or ask everyone will just blurt out the answer to him. To do this he uses direct questions. This puts people of balance and they tell all. He also can tell things from the facial expressions. The Inspector uses a really interesting technique with the photograph of Eva Smith. He will only show one person at a time, he doesn't show them all at once. However, while reading the script many of us were thinking is this really a photo of the same girl? Or is it even a photograph. Inspector Goole could really be using a dramatic device to show the Birlings and make them look at themselves with disgust. I think it is a bit strange that the Inspector never shows the photo to them all at once, this make me think that either it is a photo of a different girl or in fact not a photograph at all. I think that this was not a photograph the inspector was showing but a mirror. To make them look closely at them selves, exam themselves with disgust and hatred. When they look in the mirror maybe they don't only see themselves, they could see everything they have done in a quick glimpse, maybe they see Eva Smiths face, staring back at them crying in pain and agony. I think the mirror is a good theory. This would explain why each one of them had a different reaction to the photograph. As they are really seeing themselves and are each reacting with more or less awareness of what they have done. The inspector is not there to destroy their lives. He does not want to ruin them he just wants them to realize what they are doing and change it before it too late. He has a sort of sympathy towards Sheila the youngest child. He does not want to destroy her and make her think that it was all her fault, he just wants to help her ' And if she leaves us now and doesn't hear anymore then she will fear she is entirely to blame'. The inspector doesn't want her to feel any blame on Eva's death, he just wants her to realize she had an impact on Eva Smiths death, so that she can teach herself respect towards others. Inspector Goole only seems off hand with Mr. and Mrs. Birling. It is as if he wants them to set a good example to their children and change the way they are. I think the inspector does feel sympathy towards the children as he realizes they are only like this as this is how their parents brought them up.
There is no possible way that you can take advantage of Inspector Goole.
He knows exactly what he is doing. He talks about Eva Smith/ Daisy Renton quite kind and sympathetic, showing that he has affection for her.
The Inspector appears to be really successful. The way that he squeezes information out of people, hardly having to say a word himself. He has a way that he will just make them feel so bad about themselves that they spill out all the information. Also, he keeps on coming back to the point he has asked until he has squeezed all the information he possibly could out. So, the inspector does appear to be successful with getting information out about the death. However, is this really what he is trying to be successful with? If he is trying to make them realize what they have done was he successful? I think that on some members of the family they really did realize what they had done. Shelia, for example, she felt really bad about what she had done and so did Eric. So the Inspector was successful teaching them a lesson. Mr. and Mrs. Birling however, felt that they had nothing to do with the death and that they were not to blame at all. They were so stubborn they couldn't even realize they were the worst out of all of them. The Inspector was more successful with the information about Eva Smith. Although I think that the ending would have left all of them realizing what they had done, so the Inspector was successful, even if the Birlings would not admit to being in the wrong.
The Inspector has a different impression and impact/effect on each one of the characters. This is due to the fact of the different characteristics of the charters, and how responsible they feel about the death.
Mr. Birling is rather annoyed with the Inspectors surprise visit, because he was celebrating his daughters engagement and feels that having an Inspector question him will ruin his chance of being on the 'New years Honors list'. Mr. Birling also feels that the death is his problem at all and that he should have nothing to do with it. This however is entirely wrong, as he was the one that started of the chain reaction that led Eva Smith to her devastating death.
Mrs. Birling reacts really stubbornly. She feels that the Inspector was rude towards her, and she too does not see why the Inspector is bringing her in to this as has far as she can see, she was not to blame at all for the death.
The Inspector has a big effect on Sheila. He claims that he often makes a great impression on the younger ones,' We often do on the younger ones, they are more impressionable'. Sheila is the only one who really hears what the Inspector is actually saying, and feels great sympathy and regret about what had happened. She is not to scared to admit to the Inspector that she knows she was in the wrong, no other character was brave/stronger enough to do this. The Inspectors theory about the younger ones must be correct.
Gerald does not seem to have much of an effect from the Inspector. He seems quite calm about the whole situation, but then the Inspector is a bit nicer towards Gerald as he was the only one who made Eva Smith happy. Gerald leaves half way through the dinner. The biggest effect that the Inspector has on Gerald is that he breaks up their engagement by informing Sheila that Gerald had been having an affair. Gerald almost does not trust the Inspector and sees through his sneaking little ways, as later he questions people about Inspector Goole actually being an Inspector.
Eric Birling, also one of the younger one, has a big effect from the Inspector. He realizes what he had done, and is angry with him self for not being able to help Eva and his baby, he also is mad with himself for stealing money from his father. He is feeling great regret about his actions. The Inspector makes Eric feel as if he killed his own child. Eric is very hurt and angry with himself.
The Inspector was trying to effect the Birlings life as he is trying to teach them a lesson about how to behave with others. He said that they have an effect on the younger ones, Sheila and Eric were the only Birlings who actually realized what they had done. The Inspector probably did change their lives. However, Mr. and Mrs. Birling did not feel any different after the Inspectors visit, as they are too stubborn to see they are in the wrong. This is quite sad as they were the main problem and they brought their children up that way, treating others badly, but they can not do a thing to change themselves.
The play is set in 1914. In this time in Britain there were different classes of people, the rich and the poor. People were not treated as equal; the ones with more money were treated well and with respect, where as the poor got nothing. It was set right before the First World War broke out.
Based on the time the play was set, my guess is that the Inspector was not off a high class. He could have been born into the working forces, and then become an Inspector because of his family. So, he has grown up in the poor class but because he has become an Inspector the rich have to respect him and listen to what he is saying. This would explain why the Birlings were a bit weary with him and would not admit to him being right. It is like they resent him being in their home, ordering them about. They know that they are a higher class, but they can not do a thing about this and have to take the orders given to them.
The Inspector being from the poorer class would explain why he feels for Eva Smith/ Daisy Renton. She too was poor and helpless, and there was nothing else that she could do, to get her life in order so she had to commit suicide. The Inspector seems as if he knows exactly how she felt, and he feels for her. They are both from the poorer class, so he is explaining to the Birlings that just because they have less money does not make them any less of people and should be treated the same as anyone else. He is there for all the lower class, explaining that they do not want to be treated differently, everyone is equal no matter how much money you have.
The Inspector is a tall man, quite elderly, in his fifties. He creates an impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness. He is dressed in a plain darkish suit of his period. The Inspector speaks carefully, weightily and has a habit of looking hard at the person he addresses before actually talking.
For the set up of 'Inspector Calls' you would need to have the Inspector in the center of the stage, so all eyes can be on him, and you can see his every move and expression, as his role is most important. A spotlight on him would be quite effective, as your highlighting his character. Choosing the perfect actor for the role of the Inspector would be most important. The actor would need to be a clear, loud and stern speaker, with a good steady voice. An elderly man to give the right effect, which can create good expressions to fit each line.
Sudden music clips would be effective for some of the Inspectors important speeches. Also, having smoke come out when he exits and enters, so that it is as if he just appears and then just vanishes, this would be very effective for his role.
I really enjoyed reading 'The Inspector Calls' I found it very interesting and enjoyable. I thought that the Inspector was a very mysterious and confusing character. He had very specific techniques to get out information, this was a good part of the play I thought it made it more interesting to read and it was not a boring way of asking questions.
My views on him is that he a generally nice man. I do not think that he came to the Birlings house to ruin their life and make them feel like terrible human beings. He just wanted to show them what they were doing to others and make them change their ways before matters got worse. He just wants to help them. I think that the Inspector was not just there to represent Eva Smith, it was for all poor people. Everyone that had ever been treated differently because of their class, the Inspector was speaking for them. My thoughts on who I think the Inspector is keep changing. I can not decide, there are so many different possibilities. The main person I can think of is that he was an angel, not necessarily Eva Smith's guardian angel, just an angel. The angel (inspector) is making the Birlings realize what they are doing to the poor, they are to obsess with money and class, and this is how they judge others. The Inspector is telling them this so that it does not happen again. He is protecting everyone, the Birlings included, and he is helping them. As we live in a society we all have to help each other; we all keep eachother breathing. The angel was trying to point this out to the Birlings. He says this in his speech ' we are all responsible for eachother'. We are all responsible for eachother and the angel (Inspector) was using this one happening to show them this.
There are so many different possibilities of who the Inspector could be; this is only one of my views. I think that is what makes the play so good, the ending is your decision. We decide what happens, who he is and how he changed the Birlings life style. I could write endlessly about who/ what the Inspector could be so I will end here.
This was a great script and I would love too see it performed one day.
Nicola Baker English Coursework
