Although the Inspector is not directly rude to the Birlings’, he is stern and cold. Immediately, as he enters the house he forces himself upon people, making sure his authority is known. The Inspector is presented as wanting to make the character’s consciences come out and for them to feel guilt towards the suicide. As Sheila described the situation, “He’s given us the rope so that we’ll hang ourselves.” This is shown with Sheila, when he manages to upset her after showing her the picture of Eva Smith, after which she runs out. He says, “I didn’t do it. She upset herself.” However, when he sees that he has affected Sheila in this way and that there may be opportunity for change, he makes sure that she does not receive all of the blame to herself by saying that she is not entirely to blame – only partly. This shows that although the Inspector may be described as slightly ruthless, he does have a side that wants to help the Birlings’ by showing them the error of their ways.
The ‘Inspector’ could be playing the role of someone who tries to make the members of the Birling family confess. He tries to draw their confessions by playing with their minds through constantly asking open ended questions such as “Are you sure you don’t know?” He encourages each character to acknowledge their guilt and responsibility for Eva’s death and to repent. This action is shown through the way he questions Eric, “you mean you stole the money?” Not only does he expertly draw confessions from people he also portrays an image of a supernatural being. This image may be the reason why he is so easily able to draw confessions from the Birling family. His supernatural mystique enables him to remain a moral Inspector yet never be questioned about his own character by the Birling family.
The Inspector is never intimidated and always manages to keep his composure again portraying him as a professional man. When Mr. Birling says, “If you don’t come down sharply on these people, they’d soon be asking for he Earth!” The Inspector replies with: “They might. But it’s better to ask for the Earth than to take it.” He is obviously a clever man and manages to appear correct even when, from a Capitalist point of view, it would seem Mr. Birling was in the right. However, from the Inspector’s perception, this is exactly the opposite of what the Inspector believes therefore he is quick to defend his beliefs. The Inspector also appears to be all-knowing and when asked a question, always knows the correct answer. He also knows the truth behind the suicide despite the lies told. He portrays the feeling of great power and control, as he knows how to act in every situation. This is mainly through speech, language, the atmosphere and presence of the Inspector. These characteristics are supported by most the Inspector’s speech throughout the play.
The socio-historical context plays a very important part in the play and is linked to J.B Priestley’s views being represented by the Inspector’s character, and his fight against the rigid anti-socialist class structure of 1912. During the opening scenes, Arthur Birling discusses that there is going to be no possibility of a war, which the play’s audience knew there was. He also makes references to the sailing of the Titanic, “Why a friend of mine went over his new liner last week. The Titanic – she sails next week – 46 800 tons, 46 800 tons – New York in five days – every luxury and unsinkable.” This is ironic in the sense that the audience are in the knowledge that the Titanic sank on its maiden voyage contrasting Mr. Birling’s assurance that it was unsinkable. The audience will not believe in Mr. Birling’s haughtiness, as they already know the outcome. He is presented as being a hardheaded, arrogant and selfish businessman. J.B Priestley uses these ironic references to add tension to the scene, in the build up to the Inspector’s entrance. As the Titanic had represented the prime of industry and mechanism, the sinking of it signified of what was to come in the future. Mr. Birling appeared to have great faith and confidence in the Titanic to be unsinkable and Priestley shows just how wrong he was, and how his opinions and views are the ones that he shares. Also, the importance of the mentioning of the Titanic is also linked to the year in which it happened – 1912, which in pre-world war Britain held different experiences for different classes.
1912 was a time of security and prosperity. However this was only the situation for those who were the aristocracy and business people – those who were wealthy. Those of the lower classes were treated the oppositely. They were badly paid, deprived and unprotected by the state. One of the most important reasons that the play was set in 1912 was that it was pre-world war Britain. Therefore the troubles that Eva Smith faces were more believable than they would have been if he had set it later on. This is because later on after World War One began, times for the lower classes were very hard, much harder than pre-war Britain.
When J.B Priestley wrote the play in the winter of 1945, the world has just experienced another World War. Unlike the First World War (1914-1918), where the Working Classes were sent to the Front Line to fight, and most likely die, while the Upper Classes stayed back in safety, planning where to send the armies next, the Second World War (1939 – 1945) was much different. People were not given ranks because of their positions in society, but because of their knowledge and skill. For the first time, possibly ever, the classes had to work together so they could survive. There was no room for their class system in wartime Britain. This trend of classes mixing, along with new socialist ideas being introduced such as the Dole and the National Health Service, made Britain a better place. However, not in the eyes of Arthur Birling. He had strong anti-socialist ideas on community, saying “…a man should look after himself and his own,” and that “being all mixed up like bees in a hive,” was “nonsense”. Birling would have preferred life in 1912. As Birling put it, they were more concerned in keeping “labour costs low, and production levels high.” The pittance the workers were paid could be reduced even more if the workers did not keep to strict and sometimes unnecessary rules. Additionally, there was no National Health Service, no Workers Right and no Welfare State. As the Inspector represents Priestley’s views throughout the play, it is shown that the Inspector sees everyone as equal and does not believe in the strong class divisions that Mr. Birling believes in. This is shown by the way the Inspector morally inspects everyone, and his determination to make the family see the error of their ways.
At the time of the play, society was strongly capitalist, and the world was very divided by class. The author of the play was concerned about the state of the capitalist society. He had served on the Western Front during the First World War, and had seen the tragedies caused by the French warfare. He had acknowledged how the lesson of the world war remained unlearned, and did not lead to improvement of the lives of ordinary people, but yet to another war. Due to the fact that J.B Priestley was a socialist, he felt that society should be equal, and class barriers should be broken down. He portrayed these views through his play. The Inspector’s character represents the views of Priestley, mainly through his dialogue and particularly in his final speech.
The Inspector allows the play to be within a ‘Whodunnit’ genre. This is because he is trying to find out who is responsible for the suicide of Eva Smith. He arrives, announcing there was a death, not accusing anyone and slowly collects his information. The play also follows a ‘Cluedo’ form, where the Inspector has a few clues and makes some educated guesses about what happened. For example, he may have known that Sheila had Eva sacked from Millwards but he may not have known why. He makes good use of the little information he has and uses his knowledge to his advantage. The more he has, the cleverer he is, and therefore the more powerful he is. As Gerald said, Inspector Goole “very artfully worked on bits of information he’s picked up here and there, he bluffs us into confessing.” This means that without pushing the characters too far, he is easily able to pick up valuable information. This information not only makes him more powerful, but also makes it easier for him to morally inspect the characters and try to make them change their ways.
J.B Priestley was one of the most popular, prolific and versatile authors of the day and ‘An Inspector Calls’ appears to be very effective. The play which reflects the capitalist society that he despised is a moral tale saying that everyone should be treated equally and that money is not everything, for it cannot bring happiness. It can also be referred to as a ‘Medieval Morality Play’ where there is the idea of a central figure who brings out the good and evil in all of the other characters. In this case, there is the Inspector trying to bring these characteristics out of the Birling family.
Finally, one of the key characteristics of the play is the question of the Inspector’s authenticity. The Inspector seems to have premonitions for he states, “I think you did something terribly wrong, and you’re going to spend the rest of your life regretting it.” He seems to be able to forecast the future and acts in an omnipotent manner. This is shown when he is talking about Eva and her employment with Millwards, where he states, “that’s what she thought.” The most obvious reason why he can be envisaged as a supernatural being like a malevolent spirit or ghost is because of his name – Inspector Goole. This is a very obvious pun and can be interpreted as Ghoul. It almost seems to be a phonetic word that has been misspelt. A ghoul is anything interested in morbid or disgusting things and can also be another word for a spirit or ghost. By using the name ‘Goole’ and making it appear as if the Inspector can foretell the future, again he is presented as being a very enigmatic figure that does not seem to have a suitable explanation as to how he has come about and what his real reasons are for being at the Birlings’ household.
We begin to wonder whether or not the Inspector is a supernatural being. For although he is visible, he is not know by anybody. Nobody has seen him around before, not even Gerald, who comes from a very wealthy, reputable and well-known family – ‘the Crofts’. Also, because he is prepared to be morbid and shock the characters if it will evoke a response from them. This is portrayed through the description he gives of Eva Smith, “That’s more or less what I was thinking of earlier tonight, when I was in the infirmary looking at what was left of Eva Smith. A nice promising life there, I thought, and a nasty mess somebody’s made of it.” This seems to be very evil and harsh for a real inspector to say. It is almost as if he is a spirit sent on behalf of Eva to haunt and torment the consciences of each of the characters in turn. How the Inspector is portrayed by his language and dialogue make him seem spirit-like or supernatural. The way in which the Inspector behaves during his visit to the Birlings’ makes his authenticity seem questionable as there are many questions regarding his character that even at the end remained unanswered. This interpretation of the Inspector is developed through language and his dialogue, as different people may have their own interpretation of who the Inspector is and what he represents. This helps to build tension throughout the play.
Inspector Goole has such an immense impact on the whole Birling family. Whether it be his daunting appearance, his peculiar mannerisms, his abrasive attitude or his thought-provoking words, Goole changes every character in some way or another, making them all look at themselves and consider their actions. He strips them all of their names, their frivolities and arrogant attitudes until they are nothing but guilt-ridden, remorseful and ashamed. Being the driving force of the play, the Inspector gradually and systematically unravels the truth whilst constantly reinforcing the Birling's responsibility for the death of the young woman. Priestley's socialist values are easy to depict through the character of Inspector Goole as he frequently emphasises the importance of unity between the social classes. Personally, I think it is obvious that the Inspector didn't turn up that evening to find out the truth about each character's involvement with Eva Smith / Daisy Renton, but to make them realise how their complacent perspectives, pompous attitudes and foolish actions can cause the most drastic consequences.
In conclusion, I have discovered that J.B. Priestley uses a variety of different ways to present the character of Inspector Goole in a range of diverse ways. In my opinion, the main techniques that he uses are language and the question of the authenticity of the Inspector. These things manage to present the Inspector as a powerful, enigmatic, brusque figure who may have introduced himself as a police Inspector but is truthfully a moral Inspector, wanting to determine the truth behind the death of Eva Smith. He is presented in these particular ways by his use of short sentences, which make him come across as slightly abrupt and often rude. On the other hand, he is unreadable and this is shown by the question of his name and how he appears to be able to foretell the future. These make him appear as a mysterious figure and that even at the end of the play, the audience is not informed of the truth behind his entrance. The background to the play shows that the Inspector was a firm socialist who enjoyed bringing out the consciences of the characters then leaving them wondering how he had actually done it.
