Mr Birling, Eric and Sheila – Middle Class
Mrs Birling and Eric – Upper class
In the play I think that Inspector Goole is Priestley’s social conscience. The play was written after World War 1 but was actually set at the turn of the century (in 1912). Mr Birling thinks that he knows everything but infact what he says is a load of rubbish, such as:
'"The Titanic....unsikable,
absolutely unsinkable"'
where it sunk on its first journey. He also says there is no chance of a war happeining, but a few years later he is again proven wrong. Mr Birling is a very shallow man.
The physical description of Inspector Goole is very unique and reveals a lot about his character. The Inspector ‘creates an impression of massiveness’ and this would be intimidating for the family. Priestly describes him as having ‘solidity’ and ‘purposefulness’. The reason Priestly describes Inspector Goole in this way is because this shows us that he is a very powerful character, even more so than the Birlings and the Crofts. Even though these 2 families are very powerful people themselves. The Inspector treats them equal as anyone else where as most people do, he doesn't treat them with a great deal of respect. He says to Mr Birling '"Puplic men, Mr Birling, have responsibilities as well as privilages."' I believe that he is talking to Mr Birling as if he was a child when saying that to him.
In the play Inspector Goole is a catalyst, the word catalyst means to speed somthing up. He gets the Birlings and Gerald to confess to being involved with Eva Smith/Daisy Renton in some way. Inspector Goole is very good at creating tension and drama. For example when someone asks he a question he will now answer it, he will just ask a question back. He manages to break the family down and get them to own up to things. He says:
'"one person and one line of inquiry at a time."'
this shows he he that he wants to deal with each individual sepratly so that he can break them down easier than if they were all united and could defend eachother. He never really does seem like a real policeman as he is very rude and arrogant. There is a lot of dramatic irony as we know he isn't a real inspector but the Birlings don't.
I think the in the play Preistly has used Inspector Goole to express the way he feels about the world. He shows us that at the time of this play it was very much Capatilism vs Socialism, (the Inspector being the socialist). The family and there moralistic views represent society. When Sheila says '"No, he's giving us the rope-so that we'll hang ourselves."' from this comment I feel as if she has sussed out the inspector, it means all the inspector did was tell them what happened, and they admit to perhaps being guilty.
There are many clues that tell us that Goole isn't a real inspector, some more obvious than others. For example the way in which he talks to the family, the family don't expect to be treated like this so they panic and reveal to having conections with Eva or Daisy. His name could also tell us that he is an imposter as its sound like 'ghoul' which is a ghost, in others words non existant. He has a very big effect on the family. Birling says:
'"still, I can't accept any responsibility."'
as he is scared of having his reputation disrupted, he would rather have his family take the blame. This shows he is a very selfish man.
So I believe that Preistly shows his veiws through the character inspector Goole, he is valuable in the play because he author explain how he feels. He shows us about morality and morals. There has a good varity of characters in the play and the way the play slowly progresses is very good.
