Discuss the role of the Inspector in An Inspector Calls

by jessicadaviis (student)

Discuss the role of the Inspector in ‘An Inspector Calls’

In the novel ‘An Inspector Calls’, the Inspector is one of the main characters.

When the inspector is introduced he comes across as a realistic, yet also a mysterious figure. His name, Goole, is only the start of his mysterious being, the name Goole, implies that he is ghostly, as in Goole being similar to ghoul which is a term, applied to ghosts.

When he is first introduced to the play he makes a remarkable impression, ‘the inspector need not be a big man but creates the impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness’, this sentence alone is enough to understand that the inspector is impressionable, although he’s only just met the family he already has made them feel slightly uncomfortable with his appearance and authority. ‘He speaks carefully, weightily and has a disconcerting habit of looking hard at the person he addresses before actually speaking’, to any person, no matter how superior they are; the inspector seems to know how to make anyone feel uncomfortable and worried about the outcome of his visit. Before he’s even spoken, you get the sense he has already created a tense atmosphere within the family, which is then acted upon throughout the rest of the play.

In the start of the play when he arrives, he lets the family know he is serious and means business; he starts to tear apart the family’s ignorance of their wrong doings. Although the truth comes out and each member of the family are shown to have done wrong to ‘Eva Smith/Daisy Renton’ which have all contributed to her suicide. The inspectors role is very convincing, he is very intent on making the Birlings confess, he uses this to his advantage- he does not accuse anyone; he simply asks a lot of questions and lays down the truth even though ...

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J.B Priestley wrote an Inspector calls as a morality play, meaning a play written to put across a way of us thinking about the things we do; good and bad. Inspector Goole being there is what helps us to see what the characters have done wrong, as well as their reactions to it and how they deal with it when they realise what they have done has lead to the death of Eva/Daisy.

The stage directions for Inspector Goole act on his deliberate and uncomfortable ability of addressing people, he is unlike all the other characters and he does not back down from his morale position. He is confident that his facts are right.

The lighting used for the Inspector are deliberate but subtle; ’The lighting should be pink and intimate until the Inspector arrives, and then it should be brighter and harder.'

The key words here are 'pink and intimate', and 'brighter and harder' because this foreshadows the events to come in the play, as when lighting is harsher, the truth is revealed and there is nowhere to run from it. It's almost as if the lighting is acting as a spotlight to find out what really happened to Eva Smith.

Overall, the Inspector is a very important character throughout the play, he teaches the family a lesson, although it is clear only Eric and Shelia learn from this. The Inspector uses Eva too make the family realise how they treat classes worse off than them. No-one other than the author will ever know if Inspector Goole was real or a ghost, but the story allows the reader to interpret their own ideas on what the Inspector was/is.