As with Mr. Birling’s accusation, the Inspector is omniscient and knows that Sheila was the person who got Eva out of her job:
“I had an idea it might be- from something the girl herself wrote”.
The inspector says he gathered all this evidence from Eva’s writing, there is no evidence, he shows them the picture but not the writing. The Inspector is still omniscient. He makes Sheila learn lesson of the actions she commited that day at milwards. Unlike Mr. Birling, Sheila is deeply flustered by her actions, and accepts full responsibility, therefore learning her lesson.
At this moment the audience still believe that this is detective fiction, because of another cross-examination.
The next person in the inspectors list of suspects is Gerald Croft, fiancé of Sheila Birling. After Eva was sacked from Milwards, she altered her name to Daisy Renton. Gerald went to a prostitute bar and saw her there alone and took her away. He felt regretful for her so he gave her “food and some money” and took her to a “set of rooms his friend had let him borrow”. Between this time he had been lying to Sheila that he was at the works. He had an affair with her, both of them fell in love with each other. But Gerald did not make love with her, and felt repentant for her. The affair had ended when Gerald had to go away for business matters.. Eva/Daisy was very grateful to Gerald, because of what he did to help her out. Gerald said that “She told me she’d been happier than she’d ever been before”. Gerald then gave her some money to see her through the year, which she accepted.
The omniscience of the Inspector continued as he then tells Gerald that Eva/Daisy then went to some seaside place and kept a diary, where he might have got his information from? Still no evidence was shown. Eva felt as if there would never be anything good for her again. Gerald then leaves for a walk.
Another interrogation means another step into persuading the audience that “An Inspector Calls” is detective fiction, and the audience begin to suspect that there are more interrogations to come.
The next two people on the list of suspects to be interrogated are Eric Birling and Mrs. Birling, correspondingly son and wife of Mr. Birling.
Eva Smith went to a meeting of an interviewing committee, of which Mrs. Birling was the chair. Eva asked for help because, she was pregnant and the father had been giving her stolen money, which she refused to accept. Nevertheless, Mrs. Birling refused to help her, and made the other members refuse as well. She didn’t believe Eva’s story. As well as Mr.Birling, Mrs. Birling didn’t accept any responsibility for the death “simply because I have done nothing wrong”, Mrs. Birling blamed Eva herself: “But I think she had only herself to blame” and the father: “It’s his responsibility”.
Alternatively, the Inspector says that Eva’s story was actually true and the father was Mrs. Birlings son, Eric. “Look inspector, you’re not trying to tell us that – my boy – is mixed up in this - ?”. Eric confirms that Eva was telling the truth, that he had made her pregnant on a drunken night, that he had given her stolen money from his father’s office, and that she had refused the money: “She wouldn’t take any more”. Eva didn’t want to marry Eric because she felt that he didn’t love her.
Eric accepts his responsibility but Mrs. Birling does not, and she only cares about what she said about the father because she finds out it was her own son. Throughout the interrogations, the Inspector is omniscient of the events but asks questions, trying to teach the characters a lesson. He is annoyed when the characters act snobby.
All the interrogations and the conventions of detective fiction they contain persuade the audience that “An Inspector Calls” is detective fiction. However, after the interrogation with Eric, the audience suddenly realise that this play is not in the genre of detective fiction. The Inspector makes a moral message and leaves without making an arrest: “Good night”.
In normal detective fiction, an arrest is made. The audience realise that this play is not detective fiction, and along with the characters, doubt if Inspector Goole is a real inspector, such as Sheila: “but was he really a police inspector?” and Mr. Birling: “By Jingo! A fake!” Gerald says that when he went for his walk, he asked a police sergeant if there was an Inspector Goole, and after Gerald described the Inspector, the sergeant said there was no such person. Mr. Birling phones the police and asks if there is an Inspector Goole in the staff, and describes him. He gets a response, which says that there is no Inspector Goole: “There’s no Inspector Goole on the police”.
In detective fiction, there is an inspector or detective. The audience now realise that “An Inspector Calls” is not detective fiction after all, because no arrest has been made and there is no inspector or detective.
Inspector Goole is not an inspector. He represents a conscience, wanting things to be right. Throughout the play, he has great authority, taking charge of the situations and getting what he wants out of the characters- their confessions. He leaves the audience with a message:
“We are members of one body. We are 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”.
His message means that if people do not help one another, then the First World War will begin. The play was written in 1945, but set in 1912, two years before the First World War.
The other characters also represent other things. Eva Smith was a young woman who committed suicide. She was driven to do this by the Birlings and Gerald. She represents the victim, and is also the main convention into misleading the audience into believing that “An Inspector Calls” is detective fiction.
Mr. Birling represents a person who is against the Liberal Reforms. He is selfish and doesn’t care about anyone apart from himself and his family:
“But the way some of these cranks talk and write now, you’d think everybody has to look after everybody else… a man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own”.
This shows that Mr. Birling is against the Reforms, and his character portrays those richer people who thought that the working class were too lazy to get jobs perfectly. He doesn’t accept responsibility for his actions.
Mrs. Birling is a character similar to Mr. Birling, also against the reforms. She is selfish and snobby, and acts like that during her interrogation. However, when she finds out that Eric is the father, she breaks down: “Oh- Eric- how could you?”
This indicates that Mrs. Birling is selfish and doesn’t care about anyone apart from herself and her family. Like Mr. Birling, she portrays the rich people who thought the working class didn’t have jobs because they were lazy and got drunk. She is also against the Reforms.
Sheila is an emotional young woman who feels deeply distraught by what she did to Eva: “I behaved badly too. I know I did. I’m ashamed of it”.
This shows that Sheila is aware that her actions helped Eva to commit suicide. She represents a person who is for the Reforms to take place, because she has learnt her lesson that was portrayed by the message the inspector left.
Eric is a young man who gets drunk. He is also distressed by his actions:
“It’s what happened to the girl and what we all did to her that matters”.
This shows that Eric has also learnt his lesson. As Sheila does, he tries to persuade the others that they are responsible. He also represents a person who is for the Reforms to take place.
Gerald was the only person out of the Birlings and himself that made Eva happy at a time. He is distraught that she has died, because he loved her at a time:
“(distressed)Sorry- I- well, I’ve suddenly realised- taken it in properly- that she’s dead-”
This shows that Gerald cared for Eva because he loved her in their affair. However, he is the first one to find out that the Inspector is a fake:
“That man wasn’t a police officer”.
This indicates that Gerald is clever for spotting something wrong about the inspector and going to check if he is a fake. However, he doesn’t accept responsibility of his actions as Sheila and Eric do. This is because he hasn’t done anything bad to Eva. However, he could have done more for her with his power, like get her a job. But he doesn’t and doesn’t accept any responsibility for it. Along with Mr and Mrs. Birling, he believes the whole investigation was a hoax, and along with them, is sure that he is innocent of anything. This makes him a representative of those who were against the Reforms.
If the play was set in 1945, then Eva Smith would not have committed suicide. This is because during and after the play was written, the Liberal Reforms took place, enforcing initiatives like the NHS, family allowance, full employment, better education, free school fees, GPs and hospital care; full pensions, better housing, such as council housing; death grants and national insurance. Eva Smith would have a lot of help and would be able to get help very easily, and would not have needed to commit suicide. “An Inspector Calls” is set in 1912 so Eva Smith would die and be a victim- two conventions of detective fiction. The death of Eva Smith persuades the audience that this play is detective fiction, and if the play was set in 1945, then Eva wouldn’t have died and Priestly would have to think of another way to falsely persuade the audience into believing “An Inspector Calls” is detective fiction.
The structure of “An Inspector Calls” stops it from being detective fiction. It has a cyclical structure, meaning it starts over and over again. Detective fiction has the revelation scene as a climax and has a narrative structure. The structure of “An Inspector Calls” is made into a cyclical structure because of the phone call at the end:
“That was the police. A girl has just died- on her way to the Infirmary- after swallowing some disinfectant. And a police inspector is on his way here- to ask some- questions”.
This shows that the interrogations will start again. The characters are shocked- they had just assured themselves that it was all a hoax and it was confirmed when they phoned the infirmary to ask if there had been a suicide just before and there had been none. The play has a cyclical structure because not all the characters have learnt their lessons, only Sheila and Eric have.
In conclusion, “An Inspector Calls” is not detective fiction. The title, death, interrogations and diction persuade the audience that the play is detective fiction, but as soon as the inspector leaves without making an arrest but with a message, the audience suddenly realise that “An Inspector Calls” is not detective fiction. It is in fact a moral play. This is because of the message the Inspector gives, that everyone should look after one another. If “An Inspector Calls” was in detective fiction, the Birlings and Gerald would not be the criminals, because they have not committed any crimes, and even though Eric stole money from his dad, that would not put him in jail. The criminal would be Eva, for committing suicide. However, morally, Priestly is trying to make the audience believe that the Birlings and Gerald are the criminals, because they drove Eva to suicide and apart from Gerald, didn’t help her. The only reason J.B Priestly portrayed “An Inspector Calls” as detective fiction was because more people like detective fiction and would watch it. J.B Priestly would have a wider audience and teach all of them the message:
“We are members of one body. We are 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”.
