Surprise is the most common device in 'An Inspector Calls'. Act 3 in particular. In this act, there are many of the biggest surprises in the play the characters find out. First they find out the Inspector was not a real policeman. This causes confusion for both the audience and characters, making Act 3 dramatic and engrossing, as they want to find out who was
the inspector. This discovery that the inspector wasn't a real policeman makes a huge difference to Mr and Mrs Birling. They were worried about
their position in society for the case that the inspector has told the public about this suicide and the results of his investigation 'they just won't try to
Understand our position or to see the difference between a lot of stuff coming out in private and a downright public scandal'. But at the end they
have found out that the inspector isn't a policeman, they feel they do not need to worry bout their positions and what they did as no one is going to find out. Mr and Mrs Birling change the least thought out the whole play. This affects the audience because they are the main characters and have an influence on the audience. They don't think about their behaviour after finding out the inspector was not real. They don't think about this because they know they can't be legally accused. This discovery makes no difference at all to how Sheila, Eric and Gerald feel guilty. They have both found out that they cannot trust each other any longer after Gerald confessed to having had an affair with Eva Smith. They also feel that the inspector visited for a reason and there they were a moral in this visit. They feel guilty for the selfish events they did not thinking about the affects it could have on Eva Smith, leading to her death. This makes the audience realise that the past can lead to present events.
Then there is the discussion if the so-called Eva Smith had even been admitted to the infirmary. It comes as a shock and surprise that there has not been a suicide in months 'No girl has died in there today. Nobody's been brought in after drinking disinfectant. They haven't had a suicide in months.' This surprise turns the whole play around. The characters, especially Mr and Mrs Birling, feel as the whole evening should be forgotten, 'Well, here's to us. Come on, Sheila, don't look like that. All over now.' Yet Sheila still feels guilty for her actions 'everything we said had happened really did happened. If it didn't end tragically, then lucky for us. But it might have done.' This is dramatic for the audience because through out the whole play, no one has thought of this as a hoax.
After characters have found out that there has been no suicide and the inspector was not a real policeman, Mr Birling gets a phone call. When the phone rings it makes the play engrossing because the audience wants to find out whom it is and why they have phoned so late in the night. It's the police reporting that there has been a suicide by a young girl and a Inspector is one his way over to ask some questions. J.B Priestley has used the telephone so the audience can only hear one end of the conversation, and see the facial expression on Mr Birlings face when told. The telephone call is engrossing for the audience and the other characters. 'Yes?… Mr Birling specking… What? - here -' is a quote of how it is engrossing for the audience.
I think that Shelia best represents J.B Priestley's point of views. She accepts her responsibility and does not try to make her self innocent after the inspector has left, when found out that it been a set up and the inspector was not official. Sheila tries to make the rest of the family see they were still responsible. That is the author's intention and he uses Sheila to make the audience see his point of views in a situation like this. 'But don't you see, if all that's come out tonight is true, then it doesn't much matter who it was who made us confess. And it was true, wasn't it? You turned the girl out of one job, and I had her turned out of another. Gerald kept her - at a time when he was supposed to be too busy to see me. Eric - well, we know what Eric did. And mother hardened her heart and gave her the final push that finished her. That's what's important - and not whether a man is a police inspector or not.'
Conflict is a part of An Inspector Calls that all the characters are involved in. This affects the audience because it is dramatic and tense. Mr and Mrs Birling are in conflict with their children about issues such as what the inspector already knows and their responsibility after it is found out it he wasn't a real police inspector. Conflict between Shelia and Gerald about personal issues to do with their relationships is a result as the inspectors visit. At the end of act 2, when discussing the issue of who as the father of Eva's baby, the conflict Priestly sets up between the Mrs Birling and the inspector makes this play very dramatic and engrossing for the audience. We want to find who is the father. Mrs Birling 'Then he'd be entirely responsible - because the girl wouldn't have come to us, and have been refused assistance, if it hadn't been for him', and blames the death of Eva on the man who made her pregnant, with out knowing that it was her own son. But when the inspector refuses to leave and insists on talking to Eric, Mrs Birling gets the idea that Eric is the father. This part makes it engrossing, as we want to find out whether it is true. Conflict adds to the dramatic and engrossing effect because it brings excitement to the audience.
As a result of this visit, Shelia and Eric appear to have changed their attitude. They have regrets and are disappointed in what they did in Eva's life to make her feel depressed and un-happy. At the beginning nearly all the characters are arrogant towards the inspector, but as the play goes on, some of the characters notice that the inspector already knows all the details the characters are giving him.
Mr and Mrs Birling are very alike. They both try to make them selves out as a higher position than the inspector, ' I was an alderman for years - and lord Mayor two years ago - and I'm still on the Bench - so I know the Brumley police officers pretty well - and I thought I'd never seen you before'. They try to do this because they know that the police inspector is of a higher status. This causes conflict in which makes the play dramatic to
the audience. The inspector was just the author's tool to make the both of the Birling's behaviour a bit logical.
The Inspector is the most important character of the play. The first impression we get of Inspector Goole is 'an impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness.' This name Goole is related to things such as ghosts, which links with the ending. His looks make him seem powerful and important, he has authority and is in control and a very solid appearance. He is careful not to give clues away to the other characters. The timing in which he enters 'The INSPECTORenters, and EDNA goes, closing the door after her' is in the middle of a gathering to celebrate an engagement, which is a happy event. The inspector challenges the audience's attitude. He is a mouthpiece for J.B Preistley and has a strong moral voice, which stands out. He constantly rises above the Birlings. The inspector is so dramatic because of his method of investigation. He talks to each character about the death in tern. He does this because he knows what happened to Eva Smith and what part the characters had to do with the suicide. Shelia is the first person to notice this 'You knew it was me all the time, didn't you?'
The ending is a mystery and leaves the audience thinking. This ending takes the audience back to the beginning when the inspector arrives. It leaves us thinking whether the Inspector was some kind of sprit warning the Birlings. The supernatural quality - the idea of time- is involved in the characters and audience's thoughts. This adds to the dramatic tension of the play.
I think the play was a success in making it dramatic, engrossing and meaning to the audience with all the use of these devices. I think that issues such as homelessness and refugees have changed since the play was written and set in 1914, but it still has the same affect on the audience. I think the moral in this play has some thing to do with how events can take effect on some ones life over a period of time. Think about the least fortunate then yourself and how your actions could take a massive impact on others who live and work around you. This play would challenge the audience with their moral beliefs of right and wrong.
