An inspector calls - History

         It is 1912 and the Birlings and Gerald Croft were celebrating in a self-satisfied way. The audience was given a sense of unease by the ironic references to the impossibility of war, and the progress that mankind is making by the titanic. Arthur is telling Gerald Croft and Eric that “a man has to mind his own business and look after himself”, and the audience waits for the main action of the play. Inspector Goole is a catalyst [a catalyst is a person who precipitates in a change] for the evening’s events. When the family starts to disintegrate the inspector says his last judgement which is that while Arthur Birling started it all thy are all to blame for Eva’s death. Inspector Goole was in charge and in control of everything the whole time. Later Sheila said that no one told the inspector anything he did not already know. Priestly moved his play beyond the bounds of naturalism. He imbues the inspector with a supernatural quality. The effect of the inspector whoever he was, was to split the family irrevocably. When Arthur Birling picks up the telephone to hear that an inspector is going to come to investigate a girls suicide, and they are left to face a repeat of the evenings events and the audience would be left to predict what is going to happen. When Mr Birling tells the inspector that he knows the chief constable the inspector did not really care. When Mr Birling tells Sheila to run along because it has nothing to do with her and the inspector tells her to wait a minute and then Mr Birling tells the inspector that this is uncalled for and he wanted to report him. Eric says that he had better turn in but then the inspector tells him that he had better stay so it would be less trouble because he would have to turn out again soon. The way that the inspector questions them is unlike a real inspector, because he is rude and takes control of everything and takes the answers straight out of their mouths and makes them confess, an example of him being rude is when he says “apologise for what, doing my duty”. Near the end it was only Sheila and Eric that felt sad for what happened and the others did not care and carried on normally. When the inspector says his closing speech he leaves them staring and wondering and Sheila is still quietly crying, Mrs Birling collapses onto a chair, Eric is brooding desperately, Mr Birling is the only active one. I think that the inspector was a supernatural person who represented their conscience and I do not think they would say the same things to the real inspector and they would just tell lies except for Sheila and Eric, they would tell the truth.

         The impact the inspector would have upon the audience is that he would leave them confused and wondering who he was, he would also keep them in suspense and give them a moral teaching. When the inspector shows the photo individually and makes the audience feel that there is a little more to it, like if he is showing the same photo to everyone or is he changing the photo each time he shows someone. And even after the inspector leave we think that it is all over but then a phone call comes and says that there was a young lady that died and an inspector is going to come to ask them questions.