The inspector appears in the usual attire that an inspector would wear ‘plainish dark suit’. His inspector mode is there and shows his seriousness for the investigation when he turns down the drink ‘no thank you Mr. Birling, I’m on duty’.
He instantly appoints an importance to the room where the Birlings are. For example, their festivities are interrupted; for he came with morbid news, quite a contrast to their celebrations and they instantaneously would like to know why, especially Mr. Birling ‘well, what is it then?’ after he offers his kind hospitality (offerings of whisky and port) in return for some answers! Mr.Birling obviously threatened, throws his weight around tries to establish his status, but the inspector disregards his arrogance and authoritiveness.
The inspector gains a lot of his evidence through the way he questions and got round the Birlings. He had a habit of staring at the person he was addressing and maintaining eye contact throughout.
He gets straight to the point of why he is there by shocking them and the audience by going into gory details. He says he comes with the news that a girl had committed suicide by swallowing some disinfectant ‘burnt her insides out’. He then goes into detail of that even though they did everything for her she was in great agony. When his questioning starts he establishes his rule of only answering one question at a time, ‘one person and one line of enquiry at a time’. He questions each character individually and systematically. He asks simple and straight questions; ‘why?’ ‘when?’ ‘how?’, and also very leading questions to try and trick them into saying something ‘don’t you Mr. Birling?’. Each character confesses their involvement in the ‘crime’ or death of Eva Smith.
In addition to the role of a detective investigating a death, the inspector also makes comments and judgements about each characters part in Eva Smiths life. He also comments on the social issues of the time. With the amount of information the inspector knew before he was told anything by the Birlings, arouses suspicion in Sheila and she is aware that he may know more than that of what an inspector might, and that he may not be an inspector. When arguments break out the inspector steps back and leaves them to work out their personal differences ‘its about time you learnt to face a few responsibilities’ and doesn’t get involved. He also lets them work out the answers themselves ‘mother don’t you see, but surely… I mean… its ridiculous.’ which results in more family breakouts especially when they don’t want to tell the inspector anything that might incriminate themselves ‘well, we don’t need to tell the inspector all about that, do we?’
The inspector knows more about the Birlings family secrets than they do themselves and the great details he knows of Eva Smith heightens the great mystery that surrounds him. He knows of how her name changed, ‘she used more than one name’. He also knows that she worked for the Birlings and the reasons when and why Mr. Birling sacked her, ‘wanted the rates raised’. He also knows of Gerald’s affair, Sheila’s the cause of having Eva sacked, Eric getting her pregnant and Mrs. Birlings harshness when Eva came to her for help. He knows that everyone in that room had something to do with Eva Smith. How he knows it, we as the audience and the family themselves assume because he is an inspector and that he researches his cases, but that is then cast aside and questioned when we find out he’s not a real inspector.
He does not actually need to question them very thoroughly as they reveal their involvement with Eva Smith quite readily. They don’t actually tell him anything he doesn’t already know but he still prompts them to answer his questions, (Mr. Birling) ’I don’t see where I come into this’ (Inspector) ‘she was employed at your works’, so that they admit to their wrongs.
The inspectors’ speech is one of the powerful parts of the play as it represents all of J.B.Priestleys ideas. Priestley uses the inspector as his mouthpiece so he can voice his views and opinions and he uses the stage do this. The speech shows all the social issues of that time, where Priestleys’ views differ to that of Arthur Birlings. His stark comments on his beliefs on socialism, Priestley once again uses the Inspector to put across his point. The inspector reveals Eva’s life by methods about the status and roles of women, and class divides.
The tone in which the inspector speaks is very political and manner of fact, its as though he had learnt the speech and gone over and over it till he got the right manner of saying it. Because the play was written in 1945 the world wars had been experienced and that is spoken about in the speech, ‘if men will not learn that lesson they will be taught it in fire, blood and anguish’. The speech looks into the future and tells the audience of the time and what the soldiers in the world wars fought for. The powerful words mixed with the repetition of ‘we are’ and ‘their’ emphasises the point and build up as to how the speech ends, ‘Good night’, and the audience are left hanging, expecting more to come. The exaggerated manner that the inspector speaks is the rhetoric manner in which Priestley writes that he does not expect an answer from anyone but for them just to listen and take in what he’s saying. The devices he makes the inspector use after the speech ‘walks straight out, leaving them staring and subdued’, shows the impact the speech had on the Birlings, including Mr. Birling.
After the dramatic speech from the inspector their suspicions begin rise as to who actually was that man. They start to blame each other for the death of the girl, ‘you’re the one I blame for this’, and the arguments start up again. Until that is, Gerald arrives back home with information that there isn’t an Inspector Goole working in the nearby constabulary. Relief spreads among them but to check, they phone the infirmary where they are told no known case has been brought in that day. Mrs. Birling starts laughing, relieved that it is was just a cruel joke and that her popularity among her friends is not damaged and that she is still the notable person everyone thinks she is. Mr. Birling’s anger turns quickly to excitement, ‘By Jingo, a fake’, thoroughly relieved his knighthood is now coming closer and his respectable name is not thrown into the gutter. He feels he’s accomplished something when he tells everyone that no girl was brought into the infirmary and that they should look upon him with admiration and thankfulness. Gerald is just as joyful as Mr. Birling as it means is reputable company will not get a bad name and that his any chances of getting back with Sheila are raised. However Sheila and Eric are shocked and touched by the ordeal. This becomes clear on Gerald’s return and the subsequent revelation that Goole was not an inspector at all. They feel different to everyone else and that it doesn’t make a difference if the man was an inspector or not. It revealed something about each and every one of them, it exposed their guilty secrets they had been hiding and striped away their show of façade of respectability and showed they are corrupt inside. It creates a lasting impression on Eric and Sheila that distinguishes them from the other three. They realise that you should take responsibility and comprehend the effects on other people. The inspector is used as a dramatic device to expose the Birlings social irresponsibility and ignorance and make them see that their actions have consequences and not to abuse their powers.
J.B.Preistley showed the discrimination between social classes and males and females. He tried to convey his ideas using the inspector to make people think and that the issues raised like; marriage between social classes was a taboo, like in the issue with Eric and Eva, and that people from upper class society shouldn’t downgrade themselves by going to the places that Eric went to; these were thought of as the ‘norm’ in those times and to inform people of the time he wrote the play, 1945, more familiar with the times and effects that they caused on other people whatever class.
It is Priestleys final sentence of the speech, ‘fire and blood and anguish’ that he finally makes everyone aware of the inspectors almost supernatural quality. Who or what the ‘inspector’ was is left deliberately unsolved by Priestley, almost as if to heighten the supernatural nature of the inspector.
