Inspector Goole is the main character in the play, “An Inspector Calls”. The play was written by J B Priestley in 1945. This author wrote this play to pass on his message which is against capitalist attitudes and class division. The playwright made this play especially against the point mentioned by Arthur Birling which was that “a man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own”, (Act 1, pg 10). Exactly after this speech Priestley make the Inspector ring at the door bell, creating a dramatic irony to prove to the audience that Birling’s statement is wrong. In this essay I will examine how the inspector breaks down that Birling family’s façade to layout all these moral issues to the audience.
Inspector Goole is actually a form of J B Priestley himself because they both share the same views. Both his name and his manner suggest that Goole is a very mysterious person. He is very clever at retrieving his answers from the Birling family and Mr Gerald Croft who was to be married to Sheila Birling, the daughter. He makes the characters reveal their true identity in which they have caused a lot of bad deeds. He does this by getting them to admit what things they did to Eva Smith, the victim. He made Arthur Birling admit that he was responsible for firing Eva from the factory in the first place. He made Sheila Birling feel guilty for getting Eva fired from her new job. He made Gerald Croft admit that he was having an affair with Eva during summer. He then revealed to the family that Eva was pregnant and the father was Eric Birling, the son. Then finally he got Mrs Birling to admit that she was the one who refused to Eva when she went to Mrs Birling centre for help.
