When the inspector enters, Priestley doesn’t provide us with as much information or stage directions concerning him. The only stage directions are: “The inspector need not be a big man but he creates a feeling of massiveness, solidarity and purposefulness…” this underlines issues about his character that the audience also notice throughout the play. He creates a feeling of massiveness because he has such a huge impact on the family. This mysterious entrance fits with the manner of the inspector’s character. The use of the word solidarity in the stage directions puts across Priestley’s socialist views, because it is a word used in socialism and communism to mean pull together. We can infer some information about the inspector’s character from the timing when he enters the play. Mr Birling had just finished his speech about “a man has to make his own way…” The inspector’s visit proves that wrong, because Eva’s story questions this idea that looking after only yourself leads to a good society. It is important that he enters at this point because it hints that the inspector may be a Conscience. Mr Birling fails to see why the inspector is asking all these questions, which is shown in the stage directions, “ (rather impatiently) Yes, yes. Horrid business.” Birling says “horrid business” because it’s the proper thing to say but everyone can tell he doesn’t mean it because he would say it very hurriedly without any sympathy in his tone of voice. The inspector cuts across Birling’s speech to stop him going into a rant about why it’s not his fault, which would build up his own self belief. Whereas the inspector speaks “carefully, weightily, and has a disconcerting way of looking hard at the person he addresses before actually speaking” Birling tends to ramble, bluster and repeat himself. The Inspector, therefore comes across as a much more intelligent, serious and thoughtful man.
Although we never meet Eva Smith in the play you can’t help but feel sorry for her from the start. Over the course of the play, little by little, Priestley uncovers her story. In doing this you find a flaw in each character in the Birling family and it helps the audience judge their characters, and see the change in certain characters at the end of the play. In terms of Eva Smith, the audience feel more and more sympathy for her and anger towards the Birlings as the play progresses. Even before the inspector has questioned everybody, the way Birling shows no affection, or sympathy for her, and no responsibility for his actions, heightens our dislike of him. Priestley shows us more about how Birling treats the working class, the coldness displayed when he’s talking about Eva smith shows us that he does not think of the working class as people, more like numbers or cogs in a well oiled machine. Whilst the inspector is interrogating him, Birling experiences a small taste of his own medicine, because the inspector does not see Birling’s point of view no matter what he does or says. For a man, like Birling, who believes he is always right this is extremely infuriating. At this point in the play we are reminded of Birling’s hypocrisy, because Birling is an industrialist, who probably started from the bottom, like Eva Smith, you feel he should show more compassion for her.
Mr Birling and Eric tend to disagree about most things “he could have kept her instead of throwing her out”… “Rubbish! if you don’t come down sharp on some of these people…” This gives us an insight into Birling and Eric’s relationship, and in 1945, when it was first performed, there had just been a war on, so this sort of behaviour and lack of affection would have come as a great shock because many young men were lost at war, and they considered a son a very precious thing. Priestley used this to heighten the audiences dislike for Birling even more, especially when Eric comes out with some very good points, contradicting Birling’s clouded view of the world: “what about war?”
At the start of the play, the inspector values Eric’s opinion more than Mr Birling does. “It isn’t if you can’t go and work somewhere else”…”quite so”… “(to Eric) Look you stay out of this” This, not only shows the contrasts between the Inspector and Birling, but also between Eric and Birling. Whilst the Inspector interrogates Eric he doesn’t treat him very harshly because he can see that he is already feeling very guilty: “You know, don’t you?” Eric already knows that the Inspector is asking about things that they should feel guilty about because he was there when the Inspector was interrogating Mr Birling. When the inspector said Eric may have to get back up again if he went to bed Eric must have known his actions would come up. Another reason the inspector must have known Eric was already feeling guilty was that Eric was obviously more willing to tell him what he had done than the others, particularly Mrs Birling who stands firmly by her beliefs, that she had done absolutely nothing wrong, all the way through. Eric represents someone with more of a conscience than Birling. Eric can see what he has done to Eva Smith is wrong. However he is also weak as he does not see these feelings through by helping Eva.
Mr Birling treats Sheila more like a child, who is too naïve to hear about these things, than a grown woman in her early twenties: “Well go to bed then.” He orders her around and, like Eric, doesn’t take her opinions in to account. This is made obvious because of the fact that Mr Birling is infact more naive than Sheila, and seems to live in his own perfect world with no consequences, this is demonstrated by the fact that Sheila is the only one to have noticed Eric’s drinking problems: “-you don’t get drunk-“…” of course he does. I told you he did.” Mr Birling seems quite disrespectful towards women as he also treats Sybil in this same way: “ Sheila take your mother to the drawing room…(gentler) go on Sybil.” This shows he doesn’t want Mrs Birling or Sheila to hear about what Eric’s done, with no regard for their feelings, seeming to forget that he’s Sybil’s son too. Sheila is quite spoilt and child - like in the way she treated Eva. Again she represents someone with a conscience who learns from her mistakes. The way that Birling treats Sheila would shock the audiences in 1945 because it is a thoroughly old fashioned and outdated way to treat women. In world war two, when nearly all the men had gone to fight in war, women had taken up the jobs men usually occupied. After this women won more respect than Arthur Birling is giving Sheila.
Sheila immediately feels sorry for Eva Smith when she hears of her death which makes her feel guiltier for what she did: “but I felt rotten about it at the time and now I feel a lot worse.” The inspector does not shout at Sheila as much as he did with Birling as she obviously, like Eric, already feels awful about her actions. The inspector is a lot more understanding about Sheila’s feelings than Birling: “I can tell you why Miss Birling wants to stay on and why she says it might be better for her if she did. A girl died tonight…She’ll feel entirely to blame,” The inspector treats Sheila more like an adult, with thoughts of her own, than Birling does.
The Inspector leaves after a speech which will make sure that none of them forget what they’ve done. Priestley shows this in the section after the inspector has left “I remember what he said, how he looked, how he made me feel. Fire and blood and anguish.” This shows the affect that he had on certain characters was very big. In his closing speech the Inspector left with a warning; “And I tell 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 could be referring to the first world war, where men from all different backgrounds, and classes, would have to stand together, as equals, and fight for their country. This contradicts Mr Birling’s prediction at the start of Act 1; “Just because the Kaiser makes a few speeches… The Germans don’t want war. Nobody wants war,” This shows the difference between the philosophies of the Inspector and Birling, it also demonstrates Priestley’s idea that Mr Birling’s capitalist views are wrong, and how the Inspector, who is right about war, is probably right about everything else. Priestley uses this to show the benefits a socialist society would bring to the world. Priestley is suggesting that Birling’s “every man for himself” idea will end in tragedies like Eva. Whereas the Inspector’s Philosophy of shared responsibility would avoid such terrible events.
The experience of the Inspector’s questions changes some characters, but has no effect on others. It starts off with all of the family sitting down feeling no guilt whatsoever, but after the Inspector comes Eric and Sheila realise the seriousness of what they have done, whilst the others, at this point believing it is a practical joke, feel no guilt. What Mr and Mrs Birling and Gerald didn’t seem to understand is that even if it wasn’t the same girl (and no one was sure if it was or not) that they still did these cruel actions, and millions of other people do similar things without knowing the consequences, many young men and women will come to a similar end. Another point to the structure of the play is that the inspector only reveals small parts of Eva’s story to certain characters, never letting more than one person see the photograph at once. This gives the twist at the end more mystery.
The Inspector affected different characters differently, depending on how much they understand what was going on in the world at that point in time. Mr Birling was affected slightly at the start, but being a weak character, and because of his wife’s superior class always follows her lead. Therefore after watching his wife’s interrogation, and seeing the way she refused to give in to the Inspector, and not feel guilty about what she has done, he follows suit. He and Mrs Birling were the least affected characters, in the end, possibly because they didn’t understand what life would have been like for Eva Smith without all the things they did to her. Gerald felt very guilty at first, because he had feelings for her, but then he went for a walk and didn’t feel as guilty anymore. This is probably because Gerald has grown up used to money, and inherited his parent’s capitalist views. Eric and Sheila were most affected by the Inspector, especially his final words, this is shown when Sheila repeats them “Fire and blood and aguish.” Sheila and Eric understand most about what goes on in the world, this is demonstrated early on “ but what about war?” and when Sheila knows about Eric’s drinking problem. They understand more that this sort of thing can happen to people, and these small actions can lead people to commit suicide, this is probably why the inspector affected them more.
After watching the play, the audience can interpret the character of Inspector Goole in many different ways. You could think of him just as a normal man, who, having heard of the Birling family’s selfish acts, wishes to help them change for the better. Or he could be a conscience to make them feel guilty about what they’ve done, and stop distancing themselves from the working class. He could also be the ghost of Eva Smith in another form to make them pay for what they’ve done. His surname also indicates this as it is a homonym of ghoul, another word for ghost.
I conclude that Birling represents the views of capitalists and the inspector represents the views of socialists. Priestley makes Birling a weak, unintelligent, ignorant and Selfish character who rambles on a bit and desperate to fit in with the higher class that he follows his wife’s lead. Sybil seems to guide her husband, Telling him what he should or shouldn’t say, this is made evident when she disapproves with him saying: “Good dinner too – Sybil tell cook for me.” Mrs Birling would disapprove because saying what good food it was, wasn’t considered a polite thing because it is like fishing for compliments from Gerald. She doesn’t like him saying tell cook for me because it implies they talk to their servants, which wouldn’t have been done in those days. Birling also copies Gerald’s father’s (his social superior) choice of wine, to make Gerald think that he is marrying into a family with as much money as his. In contrast, Priestley makes the inspector appear as a person who speaks carefully, is intelligent, knows what is going on in the world, is very strong and comes across as a kinder, selfless person; Priestley uses this to make the audience think that a socialist society will provide a fairer, more just solution to the world’s problems.
By Anna Mckean
