“An impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness. He speaks carefully and has a disconcerting habit of looking hard at the person he addresses forcing the truth out of each character in question.” He is the catalyst in the play as he is the controlling the plot and story line of the play. He does not force his opinions of the characters to the audience but very cleverly puts them in situations that put them in context to the audience; the way he does this is through his investigation. Nevertheless, he does say,
“They’re more impressionable (the young ones)”, which could be implied that in the opinion of the inspector Sheila is a vulnerable minor.
The most important and influential speech from the inspector is in act 3 when he says:
“But just remember this. One Eva Smith is gone – but there are millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths still left with us, with their lives and fears, their suffering and chance of happiness, all intertwined with our lives and what we think and say and do. We don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for one another. And I tell you the time will soon come when, if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish. Good night.”
This very important speech covers all the main themes of the play and allows Priestly to get his significance across to the characters and the audience. The speech is very powerful and dramatic. One of the reasons it is so dramatic and powerful is the use of 'we and us´ and memorable phrases like 'fire and blood and anguish´. What Priestly is trying to make a point of is that ‘we’ need to use collective responsibility in order to maintain peace in the world. If we do not then we could create personal suffering in others. This left the Birling’s subdued and wondering exactly what the Inspector’s speech really meant. The techniques of persuasion used in the speech include, listing things in threes,
“With their lives, their hopes and fears”. Priestley also uses contrastive pairs to emphasis the power of speech,
“Their suffering and chance of happiness”. He Talks Positively,
“We are responsible for each other” and “we don’t live alone” But he also uses negatively speech,
“If men will not learn that lesson” and “then they will be taught it”. He uses first person singular,
“And I tell you that the time will soon come when”. He uses Powerful and memorable words,
“We are members of one body”. In addition, he uses a rhythm of the language,
“All intertwined with our lives, with what we think and say and do” It is very serious and has commanding tone about it, which inspires us all to think and look at our lives. This is the determining factor, which tells us, that is this really a speech of a true police inspector? Or Alternatively, is this the ending morality to the play?
All the character were firstly shocked by the impact of the speech. However, it is plain that Mr. Birling's motives are to protect himself from social scandal. To do this, he is prepared to he is prepared to distort or ignore the truth and treats this revelation as way to escape the truth of what has happened. He is blind to the hypocrisy, and indifferent when it is pointed out. Just before the end of the play he argues that 'the whole thing is different now', and congratulates himself on having avoided a scandal. Provided their public reputation is safe. Mr. Birling appears to be a hardheaded businessperson who is more concerned with high profits then the welfare of his employees. He thought very highly of himself as he might find his ‘way into the next honours list’ but regards with contempt the ‘cranks’ who say that
“Everybody should look after everybody else”. Mr. Birling believes that through his experience he knows that there will be no war and as he claims the Titanic is unsinkable, the audience can easily understand his foolishness the use of dramatic irony helps to express single mindlessness of the character. Priestley has set out to make sure the audience can relate to Mr. Birling as representing the average middle class man. Sheila starts of the play
“Very pleased with life”. Her happiness is soon destroyed also her faith in her family. Her response to the tragedy is one of the few encouraging things to come out of the play. She is genuinely upset when she hears of Eva's death and learns from her own behaviour. She is very distressed by the girl's suicide and she readily agrees that she behaved very badly and insists that she never meant the girl any harm. Also she prepared to confess her omission,
“I'll never, never do it again”. She is aware of the anonymity surrounding the Inspector, yet realises that there is no point in trying to hide the facts from him. She is unable to accept her parent’s attitude and is both amazed and concerned that they haven't learned anything from the incident. Gerald Croft finds the Inspector similarly disrupts his
“Easy manner”. He is distressed by his part in the destruction of the girl's life though he did try to deny knowing her at first as through the first part of the play, Gerald like Birling accepts no responsibility for Eva Smith's death, or as he knew her Daisy Renton Mrs Birling, however, remains entirely untouched by the Inspector's questioning. She refuses to see how Eva's could have followed as a consequence of her actions and tries to blame the father of Eva's child for the suicide. As the Inspector questions Eric he becomes entirely weak and helpless in front of his parents. Revealed as the father of Eva's unborn child, Eric reacts in a similar way to his sister. It is not until now in which Mrs Birling is finally affected, faced now with the realisation that her actions eventually lead to the death of her grandchild.
The play An Inspector Calls was written in 1945 within a week of World War Two ending but is set before World War One. J B Priestley wrote this play intentionally as he saw an urgent need for social change and used the play to express his desire for social equality. I think that the time span between the dates used (1945-1912) is to make us aware of what has happened and learn from mistakes made. The play is set in an industrial city in the Midlands of 1912. The play was set in 1912, and being set at this time, there was not only the opportunity for predictions, but also for a more drastic look at the relationship between the rich and the poor. The class gap of 1912 was much larger than that of 1946, and so was more noticeable to the audiences. With the upper class, who would seem to think that all members of the lower classes are beneath their. For example in the play Mrs. Birling says,
"Arthur, you're not supposed to say such things," when he compliments the cook (the cook being a member of the lower classes). This shows that she believes that the lower classes are there to serve, not to be thanked or complimented. This is a strange viewpoint for a,
"Prominent member of the Brumley Women's Charity Organisation". This comparison is one of many in the play, set up to show sides. They all show examples of what Priestley viewed as the Right way against the Wrong way. The char actors are put across in such a way for the audience to see them as in the wrong. Priestley was trying to get his message of community and socialism across to the audience through the actions of the characters. The message of the play was particularly effective to the audiences of 1945/1946. Priestley knew that the message of his play would reach the war-weary audiences of the era more effectively than it would reach the audiences of a different time. The setting of the play in 1912 allowed for predictions to be made by both Birling and Inspector Goole to add to the dramatic irony of the play. As it was set 1912 it showed a more drastic look at the relationship between the rich and the poor. The class gap of 1912 was much larger than that of 1946, and so was more noticeable to the audiences. There is a strong stereotypical view of the poor being helpless and innocent in the fight against the rich. This play’s effect on modern day audience would not be as effective as the social and class system is not as prominent in today’s society.
In the Inspectors last speech he says,
“Fire blood and anguish” which I think is dramatic irony from Priestley’s writing to add effect and add depth to his whole moral about how people’s actions can have serve effects on someone else. The "fire and blood and anguish" is reference to the First and Second World Wars would be very influential to the audience seeming that the play takes place in 1912. The intended effect of the predictions was to make the audience see a glimpse of the kind of person the character is. In the case of Birling, the audience would see him as a character whose opinion is not to be trusted, whereas the predictions made by the Inspector chill the audience and make them see that the lesson he speaks of has been re-taught through fire and blood and anguish twice already. The audiences had experienced the horrors of war and were not eager to experience them again, so they may think that if they followed JB Priestley's message, they would prevent yet another world war.
In my opinion the inspectors last speech is the best part in the play because not only do you here the Inspectors final reflection but you also understand Priestley’s whole point in writing the play and it adds dramatic depth to the whole meaning of everything that incurs in the play. It’s a powerful, dramatic piece with all references for the audience to pick up on to and feel something from. Its also builds up the persona, of the character, that is the Inspector, finishing the play with a powerful feeling of well being.