The “solidity” of the Inspector means that, a few outbursts aside, he remains calm and unruffled, speaking “coolly” and “imperturbably”. Priestley uses this quality to enable him to stay strong throughout whilst the other characters break down around him. For example, when Birling demands to know why he would “want to go upsetting the child like that” (in reference to Sheila), he replies that “she’s upsetting herself”. This lack of remorse and constant solidity means that the Inspector can make the Birlings and Gerald feel guilty about what they have done showing himself to be an “collective conscience”.
J.B Priestley has given the inspector a sense of “purposefulness” because it means that he is then unintimidated by Mr Birling, who tries to frighten him by telling him that Colonel Roberts is “an old friend”. He is determined and will not be mislead from his aim, remaining unalarmed by Birling’s threats. His aim as “an embodiment of a collective conscience” is to get each person to acknowledge their part in Eva’s suicide and to make them understand that they behaved immorally. This “purposefulness” also enables him to insist that he does the inquiry his way “one person and one line of enquiry at a time”. This line of enquiry enables the Inspector to act as a moral catalyst because each character owns up to what he or she has done individually, so that they can each appreciate that it is their social duty to look after one another.
The Inspector’s costume adds to his dramatic impact, as it is just a “plain darkish suit of the period”. This means that there is no excitement or comfort in his dress and nothing to distract from his presence. Priestley did not want the Inspector’s dress to evoke any sensation in the audience that would give the wrong impression as to who the Inspector was, or to detract from the Inspectors immense and omniscient presence. This costume only adds more of an impact to the Inspector as a character.
The Inspector manages to get the Birlings and Gerald to confess because he is described as having a “disconcerting habit of looking hard at the person he addresses before actually speaking”. This habit means that the Inspector’s presence is sustained throughout the play and he is able to have the effect of disturbing the person he is questioning before speaking to them so that they are more likely to admit to some involvement it the girl’s suicide. This manner is part of the reason that allows the Inspector to behave as a moral catalyst as his way of speaking is one that would make someone feel guilty and liable to confession.
J.B. Priestley uses the language of the Inspector as a way of increasing the Inspector’s impact in the play because the language of the Inspector is often very blunt and deliberately harsh “burnt her inside out of course”. This strong way of talking is a shock tactic used by Priestley to gather the audience’s attention. The Inspector does not have any reason to make Eva Smith’s suicide more appealing because he is trying to make the Birlings and Gerald feel bad and wants them to know the full extent of what happened. J.B. Priestley also wants the audience to hear the tale because it represents his point of view that we must all care for each other and shows the devastating events that can happen if we are self-interested. The impact of the Inspector’s language shocked many of the characters as Birling shows when he says “just repeating it shakes you a bit”. This was exactly the Inspectors aim and was used to great success at making the other characters feel guilty. This effect would have been repeated on the audience to stress Priestley’s point of what can happen if we do not care for each other.
In Act One the Inspector hints that he could be more than just a usual Inspector with his statement “some things are left to me. Inquiries of this sort for instance” heightening the suspicion around him. It gives the sense of this not being an inquiry into criminal law but into moral law instead. It is as if he is there as a ‘moral police officer’, to make the Birlings and Gerald see what they have done. He is representing Priestley’s point of view in his role as this ‘moral police officer’ by trying to make the Birlings and Gerald see that they must look after one another.
Inspector Goole behaves as though he already knows what has happened, or what is to happen, and is only for the Birlings and Gerald to see the error in their ways. You can see this when he replies to Birling’s question “Are you sure of your facts?” with “some of them, yes”. This shows that he already knows the facts and any normal police officer would not bother to check what he already knew. The Inspector simply wants the others to know. The reason why he made not be sure of all his facts could be because some of them have not actually happened yet, like Eva killing herself.
The Inspector’s impatience to “get on” and statement that he hasn’t “much time” illustrate that he is there before the actual event to make the Birlings and Gerald see what they have done and the moral implications. When a real inspector turns up, after the suicide has actually been committed, he will only want to find out if any of them have actually broken the law.
Sheila recognises this supernatural knowledge and authority of the Inspector and tries to warn her mother and Gerald against pretending to be blameless. She can tell he is not just an ordinary Inspector because she says, “He’s giving us the rope – so that we’ll hang ourselves”. This demonstrates her acknowledgement that the Inspector is there as a moral catalyst – to teach them a lesson, but for them to uncover it for themselves.
The Inspector has different affects on each of the family members. Straight away you can tell that Mr Birling is uneasy with Inspector Goole, as he has never heard of the Inspector, despite him being knowledgeable of the local branch members. Inspector Goole assures him that he has just recently transferred, but there is an impression of something not being quite right instantaneously. With his questioning on the effects of Birling’s actions, the Inspector moves Mr Birling to anger from his previous pompous and confident manner. This can be seen when Mr Birling somewhat impatiently responds to the Inspector’s questioning “Look – there’s nothing mysterious – or scandalous – about this business”. He remains angry throughout the Inspector’s stay so his character is not seen to change much, apart from the initial jolt of the Inspector’s arrival. This reaction shows how the Inspector evidently evokes powerful feeling into Mr Birling, who could just be getting angry as he does not want to accept what the Inspector is telling him.
Sheila is moved to tears of shock and guilt at her behaviour and becomes quite hysterical “if I could help her now, I would”. Sheila wishes she could take back what she did and the Inspector is seen to be successful in his role as a “collective conscience” by showing her the consequences of her actions. The audience sees a transformation in Sheila as she progresses from naivety to mature understanding. This transformation was used by J.B Priestley to show the Inspector working as an “embodiment of a collective conscience” by making her see what she has done wrong.
The Inspector acts as “an embodiment of a collective conscience” with Gerald as his “easy manner” is disrupted by the Inspector’s revelations. He is “distressed” by his realisation of the part in which he played in Eva Smiths life and eventual suicide. Gerald has to leave the house to a get a grip on what he has done saying that he is “rather more – upset – by this business” than he probably appears. This shows the Inspector to have been successful in his role as a “ collective conscience” because he has upset Gerald with his harsh realities. When Gerald returns from his walk, apparently remorseful, this is shown yet again.
The Inspector fails, at first, to act as “an embodiment of a collective conscience” with Mrs Birling because she remains completely indifferent to his questioning. She will accept “no blame” for the girl’s suicide “at all” fitting in with Priestley’s description of her as a “cold woman”, but becoming almost glacial. She refuses to see that Eva Smith’s death can possibly be any consequence of any of her actions and by that we see the Inspector fail as an “embodiment of a collective conscience”
The final character to undergo questioning is Eric, who is at least revealed as the father of Eva’s child. The Inspector’s catalytic presence affects him in a similar way to Sheila and he is described as being “nearly at breaking point”. The Inspector here has been successful as an “embodiment of a collective conscience” because Eric reacted as though he feels awful (it would be easier to see this in performance). It is only at this point, however, when J.B Priestley shows the Inspector to victor over the Birlings once more. Mrs Birling is seen to break down at the realisation that it was her grandchild that died “(very distressed now) No- Eric- please- I didn’t know”. The Inspector could therefore be seen as “an embodiment of a collective conscience” as he has made the whole family, even the “cold” Mrs Birling see what they have done. Priestley uses Mrs Birling’s breakdown to show the Inspector as having a lot of power over the consciences of the Birlings.
After the Inspector has shown the Birlings and Gerald what each has done he says, “I don’t need to know any more”. This shows him as “an embodiment of a collective conscience” rather than a real inspector because a real police inspector would not to know anything else which may help him to determine whether any of them have broken the law. The Inspector is seen as this “collective conscience” because he fulfils his duty in this role and then leaves them “to divide responsibility between them”.
The final speech of the Inspector is really a representation of Priestley’s strong moral views and has nothing to do with criminal law whatsoever. It is both a lecture and a warning to both characters and audience on social responsibility. In his speech he tells them “We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other” which contradicts Birling’s earlier speech on how every man must look after himself that he made just before the Inspector entered. The Inspector has gone there to change their views on their moral duty. There is a supernatural element to this speech, where the Inspector predicts “fire and blood and anguish” which is Priestley’s reference to the First World War. This prediction has such an impact on the audience because they know it to be true.
The Inspector, however, is only really successful in making Sheila and Eric realise their guilt and responsibility. This is made evident on Gerald’s return and the revelation he brings with him that Inspector Goole was not a real police officer. The Infirmary is called and it turns out that there had been no suicide. This heightens the mystery around the Inspector because Priestley deliberately leaves his identity a mystery to increase the supernatural theories surrounding him. Whoever he was though, Sheila still realises he was there to teach them a lesson as their moral policeman “he was our policeman all right”. She recognises that he was not there to convict them but to make them see that they have a social duty and that they have until now been neglecting it. As the girl has not committed suicide yet Gerald, Mr and Mrs Birling now believe themselves to be innocent in this affair. It is only Sheila and Eric who realise that they are still guilty “Everything we said had happened really had happened. If it didn’t end tragically that’s lucky for us”. This shows the impact Inspector has made in how they realise now that what they did was wrong, even though there have been no actual consequences. Priestley’s final twist is added at the end when Mr Birling answers the phone only to discover that an Inspector is about to arrive to investigate a girl’s suicide. This heightens the supernatural theories surrounding the Inspector. Just as the curtain falls and the characters are all left guilty whilst the audience are left wondering whom the Inspector really was and what will happen next.
In conclusion I can see that J.B Priestley’s Inspector Goole is not just an ordinary inspector but is much more “an embodiment of a collective conscience”, perhaps of the Birlings and Gerald or perhaps of all of us. He successfully manages to show the characters the effect they can have in other peoples lives and tells them what they should do. This role of his is asserted in his language, presence and effect that he has upon the other characters. Priestley develops this impact as he goes along uncovering more secrets using the Inspector’s catalytic presence. The Inspector is not just there though to make the Birlings feel guilty, he is there as a representative of Priestley’s viewpoint. Priestley had strong views and the Inspector is there to show the audience that now, with class divides broken down from the war, we should take this opportunity to do the right thing and take care of one another and realise our social responsibility.
