During the play there are many times which the fact that the inspector is from the police is in question. We find out early on that the inspector’s name is Goole. This name could suggest that he is not really a police inspector at all. The word “ghoul” can often be used to describe a ghost or an object that isn’t really there.
The first person to come across the inspector is Edna, who is a maid for the Birlings. When she announces the inspector to the Birlings she should use a tone of voice that would make it clear that he is a servant of the Birlings and she has no reason to know what is going on.
The inspector’s manner and methods are described by the Birlings after he has left. It is Sheila that first raises the question, is the inspector really from the police? Mrs Birling also agrees and says that he was
“So rude and assertive”. Mr Birling then goes on to say
“Then look at the way he talked to me. Telling me to shut up and so on. He must have known I was an Ex-Lord Mayor and a magistrate and so forth”.
Mr Birling is getting rather excited with this possibility, where as Mrs Birling acts as if she has known all along. She also acts very sensible by saying that they should all sit down and talk about it. Many things are made clear when the inspector has left and when Mr Birling rings the Brumley police station. Mr Birling at this point is very excited with the hope that the inspector may not be who he claimed to be. Mr Birling rings the police station and asks
“Can you tell me if an Inspector Goole has joined your staff lately.” At this point there is a pause, as Mr Birling receives his answer. Mr Birling puts the phone down and says
“There’s no inspector Goole on the police. That man definitely wasn’t a police inspector at all”.
This makes the Birlings thoughts that the inspector wasn’t really who he said he was true.
J.B Priestleys stage directions describes the inspectors appearance and manner very detailed. I believe this gives the reader a clear and precise picture of what the inspector looks like. The inspector is described as
“A man in his fifties who’s dressed in a plain darkish suit, and speaks carefully, weightily and looks hard at the person he is addressing before actually speaking”
The inspector’s manner is described as not a big man but somebody who creates an impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness.
These descriptions of the inspector are very good, but not all points of the description are held in the film. Bernard Hepton, the director of the film “An Inspector Calls” has decided not to portray the inspector in the film the same as the inspector in the play. Bernard Hepton has decided to use everything apart from the description in the play that he creates an impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness. I think that the inspector does not show this, due to Mr Birling, who himself is a big man and creates all the things that the inspector does in the play.
However I find that in the play the inspector has a disconcerting habit of looking hard at the person he addresses before actually speaking, which is followed closely in the film. Bernard Hepton follows this habit of the inspector very well and as the inspector is doing it Bernard Hepton has included a shot of the inspector doing it. This has worked very well and has been made visible by Bernard Hepton.
Throughout the inspectors questioning of people, he remains calm, while all of the people that he is questioning sometimes become angry, emotional or defensive of one another. As the inspector questions Mr Birling he remains calm and collected, but Mr Birling becomes somewhat impatient. The inspector asks Gerald to stay out of the inspectors business with Mr Birling, but Mr Birling sees this as unnecessary and becomes impatient with the inspector. Although Mr Birling seems to be calm you can see that he is losing faith and trust with the inspector, when the inspector asks why Mr Birling refused to increase Eva Smith’s wages. During the business between the inspector and Mr Birling I think that they should both stand at each end of the table to show each other their importance. The inspector should stand up right and still, with a slow clear tone of voice. The only gesture that the inspector should make is a few shakes of his head at Mr Birling. I don’t think at this point any special lighting effects or music should be used, as the confrontation between the inspector and Mr Birling is enough to keep the audience entertained.
When the inspectors interviewing Sheila the inspector should stand with his head held high and his hands behind his back. This will show that he doesn’t feel sorry for her. Sheila acts very emotional and upset over what has happened, where as the inspector remains to acts as calm as ever. I do think that some sort of lighting should be used, but not any music. The lighting should black out everybody and leave Sheila under the spotlight feeling upset for what has happened.
Another clue that inspector Goole is not really an police inspector is the fact that he hasn’t really come to find out facts, as he already knows some of them. There are many places in the play where the inspector seems to know the answer to the question he has asked.
We see towards the end of the play that the Birlings are discussing that they didn’t really say anything to the inspector, and that they thought that the inspector just made a few good guesses. The inspector has not really come to find facts, but to clarify what he thinks and already knows. This can be seen when Sheila says
“We hardly ever told him anything he didn’t know, did you notice that”
You can see that Sheila has come to this conclusion as well, and at one point in the play Sheila is worried that her mother, who is Mrs Birling will say something that she will regret later, when the inspector starts asking questions.
The whole activity and each part of the family took in the death of Eva Smith is in no way criminal. Everything was perfectly legal and no laws were broken. The inspector has come to expose many things about the family. He has come to expose how little that they know about each other and how selfish they have all been. He has also come to make them all learn a lesson.
As the whole incident is not criminal in any way, nobody was charged or arrested and it couldn’t have happened either. The only person that committed any kind of crime was Eric. He made Eva Smith fall pregnant and because he left her he gave her some money. Eric stole around fifty pounds from Mr Birlings office, which when Mr Birling found out about he became very angry. Although nobody could have been arrested, apart from Eric, the whole incident has had an effect on the family, but others react differently to it. The younger Birlings who are Sheila and Eric find it hard to come to terms with, whereas the older Birlings are more worried about whether they’ll get away with it. Near the end of the play Sheila makes an important speech about the whole thing.
“But don’t you see of all that’s come out tonight is true, then it doesn’t matter who it was who made us confess, and it was true, wasn’t it”
Sheila is clearly shaken by the Inspectors coming and we can see that Sheila is getting very worried when see says
“Well he inspected us all night. And don’t let’s start dodging and pretending now. Between us we drove that girl to commit suicide”
There is not so much evidence that Eric is shaken by the event, although he does make a few snappy comments to suggest that he is on edge. Towards the end of the play we hear Eric crack under pressure and burst out
“What’s the use of talking about behaving sensibly. You’re beginning to pretend now that nothing’s really happened at all. And I can’t see it like that. This girl’s still dead, isn’t she? Nobody’s brought her back to life, have they?”
I believe that the younger Birlings should speak these words hastily, and boldly. They should be no pauses during these c0mments and they should act like they are flaring up.
The inspectors visit has a very different impact on the older Birlings. Mr Birling and Gerald are quite clearly more worried about getting caught. This can be seen when the Birlings try to dismiss the inspector visit.
“He had a bit of information, left by the girl, and made a few smart guesses-but the fact remains that if we hadn’t talked so much, he’d have had little to go on”
Gerald also try’s to dismiss the inspectors coming around.
“Look at it, a man comes here pretending to be a police officer. It’s a hoax of some sort”
The audience should feel bitterly towards the older Birlings, as they don’t have any problem with what did and how they contributed to the death of Eva Smith. The inspectors final speech has a very in depth meaning, and proves once again that the inspector has come to teach them a lesson. The final speech is about responsibility and looking after one another. It also reminds them that everything they do in life affects somebody else’s life
“But just remember this. One Eva Smith has gone but there are millions and millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths still left with us, with their lives their hopes 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”
The inspector then goes on to say.
“We are all responsible for each other. And I tell you that 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”
This final speech shows that the inspector is trying to say that the Birlings should stop thinking about themselves and start to take some responsibility for there actions.
The inspector should speak this slowly and with a deep meaning full tone, that shows his disappointment with the Birlings. This whole scene must have the family’s reactions, while the inspector makes his final speech. Sheila should be sat all the time quietly crying, but becoming more upset as the inspector talks. Eric must sat next to Sheila, with his head in his hand, and also showing some signs that he has become upset as well. Mrs Birling who to start off with was very confidant when speaking with the inspector should collapse into a chair, and look as shocked as possible. Finally Mr Birling who has been so strong minded up to now, should walk over to the drink’s cabinet and pour himself a glass of port, and then sallow it straight away.
The treatment of Eva Smith/Daisy Renton could be associated with fire, blood and anguish that the inspector said. The fire, blood and anguish is a reference to war, and the fact that people still haven’t leant to look after everybody and care for one another. This can be associated with Eva Smith/Daisy Renton, as the Birlings haven’t leant this yet.
Eva Smith/Daisy Renton was quite clearly hurt a lot during her life and obviously had many things go wrong. The most important role in the play is obviously that of the inspectors. He doesn’t actually get involved into the family, and doesn’t give them much of his own evidence. He waits for the Birlings to tell him what he needs to know. Therefore the inspector could be described as a catalyst that triggers responses without getting involved.
I see the inspector as a teacher of life, and the rules of life. He teaches the Birlings a very important rule in life, which up to then they has ignored. J.B Priestly was an idealistic socialist who believed very strongly about what he thought. His views are reflected in the theme of “An Inspector Calls”. He had views that everybody should get a fair deal, and the world should be a better place, where everybody looks after one another. J.B Priestly also got his point across in many more of his plays and books. “An Inspector Calls” is definitely not a detective thriller such as a Sherlock Holmes story.
In the “An Inspector Calls” there is a very important lesson to be learnt, that was obviously one of J.B Priestly own views. The message that the audience is trying to be taught is to look after everybody else and do to others as you wish to be done by.