In this essay, I am going to write about the function of the inspector in An Inspector Calls
In this essay, I am going to write about the function of the inspector in "An Inspector Calls" I will cover historical context, the way the inspector deals with each of the characters and the response of the audience to the Inspector and to the play as a whole. I will also include some other points.
Priestly was born in Bradford to middle class parents. At that time, Britain had more outdoor paupers than at any time since 1888. One in forty-one people relied upon a parish charity for food. 156 people died in Welsh pit disasters. The rich business men ignored the safety of their workers in that time.
There were Nation-wide violent riots over low wages and rising prices. 200,000 went on strike but were locked out and forced to return on the same wages. In "An Inspector Calls" Mr Birling's staff go on Strike because of low wages; Eva Smith being one of them.
At that time, London was the second unhealthiest city in the world.
Queen Victoria died and Edward VII comes to the throne.
When the First World War started, Priestly served in the trenches of France. Tanks, shells, warships, submarines, machine guns, poison gas and bomber planes used for the first time in war. Income tax was then doubled to pay for the war. In the story, The Birling family believe there will not be war. Mr Birling thinking this especially. He says, "And I say there isn't a chance of war. The world's developing so fast it'll make war impossible" This is dramatic irony. He is foolish and he thinks he's clever; he's not in the slightest.
The "unsinkable" Titanic set sail and sank. This is another event which backs up that Mr Birling is a foolish man. On page seven of the story, Mr Birling says "Why, a friend of mine went over this new liner last week- the Titanic- she sails next week- forty six thousand eight hundred tons- New York in five days- and every luxury- and unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable. That's what you've got to keep your eye on, facts like that, progress like that." This is dramatic irony, where there is a discrepancy between the way things are and the words a character uses. We know the Titanic Sank on 15 April 1912 and there were between 1,502 and 1,520 casualties.
H.G Wells' short story "The Time Machine" was first published. He was a socialist who wrote science fiction visions of apocalyptic futures. He believed that society's salvation could only come about through education and from learning from history. This shows how foolish Mr Birling is, in the play, he says, "We can't let these Bernard Shaws and H.G Wells do all the talking. We hard-headed practical business men must say something sometime" H.G. Wells was a very clever and successful man, unlike Mr Birling, who just thought he was better than everybody else, but in actual fact, he really wasn't.
Killing and atrocities took place in the war on a scale that exceeds even that seen in the First World War. At that time Civilian deaths were higher than in any previous war and Aerial bombing of cities occurs on a massive scale.
At the end of the Second World War, 55 million were dead, including 6 million Jews. The world's first atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the US. Each bomb killed 70,000 civilians instantly. Many more die later of radiation poisoning. In the play, Mr Birling talks of a war (World War One) we know there was a war; it just shows the stupidity of Mr Birling. After the Second World War, Priestly wrote "An Inspector Calls." He includes all of this in Mr Birling's speeches at the beginning of the play. An Inspector calls is set in 1912.
The play opens with a positive, family get-together atmosphere but soon changes when the Inspector arrives.
Sheila is a pretty girl, in her twenties who likes life and relishes the fact she's getting married to Gerald Croft, she is also rather spoilt. Gerald is a handsome man, who's wealthy and fashionable. He's from an old country family that's socially superior to the Birling family.
The stage directions give us the impression that all the family are very happy. "Sheila is a pretty girl in her early twenties, very pleased with life and rather excited...At the moment they have all had a good dinner, are celebrating a special occasion, and are pleased with themselves."
We get the idea that there a well off family, who like to have everything, and care about what people say about them. The stage directions show us there wealthy because they say, "The dining room of a fairly large suburban house, belonging to a prosperous manufacturer. It had good solid furniture of the period. The general effect is substantial and heavily comfortable but not cosy and homelike." Prosperous means rich, which confirms what I said earlier. Mr Birling tries to impress Gerald, by talking about port, and how they have the same port his Father has, so ...
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We get the idea that there a well off family, who like to have everything, and care about what people say about them. The stage directions show us there wealthy because they say, "The dining room of a fairly large suburban house, belonging to a prosperous manufacturer. It had good solid furniture of the period. The general effect is substantial and heavily comfortable but not cosy and homelike." Prosperous means rich, which confirms what I said earlier. Mr Birling tries to impress Gerald, by talking about port, and how they have the same port his Father has, so it must be good. The stage directions also mention about not being cosy and your average kind of house. When the characters speak, I get the feeling they're not your average loving family, When Sheila is sitting down with her family at the table, she says, "Yes- except for all last summer, when you never came near me, and I wondered what had happened to you." This gives us a hint of what's to come. It also tells us that this family isn't as normal as you think they are, obviously there has been some past between Sheila and Gerald, which the audience will find out later on in the play.
At this point, I found out that at least one of the characters has secrets.
An Inspector calls is set in 1912 just before World War One when woman didn't have rights and when women were expected to stay at home doing all the jobs men wanted them to do, because the women in that era were thought to be of less importance to the men. Women then were not allowed to vote. Mrs Birling says "When you're married you'll realize that men with important work to do sometimes have to spend all their time and energy on their business." Saying that now would be insulting and sexist towards women, but then it was okay to say. The mood of the women in the beginning of the play is the men are more important than them and they must leave them to do their work and not get in the way of that.
The stage directions in An Inspector Calls by J B Priestley are very helpful to anyone reading the play. Stage directions are there to tell the actors how they should move and speak their lines. This helps the reader to understand their character better and accept their attitudes towards Eva Smith. For example, Mr Birling says to the Inspector "(rather impatiently) look - there's nothing mysterious - or scandalous - abut this business - at least not so far as I'm concerned. It's a perfectly straightforward case, and as it happened more than eighteen months ago - nearly two years ago - obviously it has nothing whatever to do with the wretched girl's suicide. Eh, Inspector?" This shows that Mr Birling is not very concerned about Eva's suicide because he speaks "rather impatiently" as if he does not see the point of the Inspector's questions about Eva and they are stressing him out. Later on, when the Inspector asks Mr Birling why he refused to give Eva an increase in her wages, Mr Birling says, "(surprised) did you say 'Why?'?" This shows that he is surprised at being asked why he refused, which suggests he does not think that raising her wages should even be a remote possibility, and that if he didn't raise her wages it is not his fault if she killed herself.
When the inspector first enters, there is a change of atmosphere, the audience gets the impression he is a well-looked after men, dressed in a suit.
He has a habit of putting people off. "A disconcerting habit of looking hard at the person he addresses before actually speaking"..."page 11" This tells me he is well spoken and the person gets a feeling of fright and is off putted before the inspector even opens his mouth.
Mr Birling tries to change the conversation, or take the blame off him, but the inspector always places it back onto the family. For example, when Shelia says, "Don't you understand? And if I could help her now, I would" The inspector replies, "Its too late, she's dead" Here the inspector goes straight to the point, and puts the blame onto Sheila without actually saying, it's your fault.
On page twenty one, the stage directions show he is a big man, not literally, but he fills the room with his presence.
The inspector says who he wants when he wants. On page twenty two, Eric says he's going to go to bed, but the inspector replies, "If you turn in now you might have to turn out again soon" This is another way the inspector controls the family.
The inspector deals with each of the characters and straight away points the blame onto all of them.
First he starts off with Mr Birling; Mr Birling started all of this off by sacking Eva because she went on strike over pay. Sheila and Eric agree with the Inspector, Mr Birling tries to get out of it and shift the blame off him, but Sheila, Eric and Inspector Goole go against him. When Mr Birling goes off the subject and accuses him for ruining their family dinner, the inspector brings up a visual image of Eva dead in the infirmary. Mr Birling refuses to see how the girl's death could have been a result of sacking her. He was only concerned about his reputation because he wanted to have a knighthood in the next honours list. But, Mr Birling learns that his family aren't as perfect as he thinks. Eric says he cannot go to him and talk to him. He hasn't learnt about taking responsibility for everybody else in the world though, only himself. This shows that the family are not as close as Mrs Birling would like to think.
Then he goes onto Sheila, Sheila got Eva fired from Milwards because Eva smiled when the dress didn't suit Sheila. She was jealous of her, as she was very pretty also. Sheila realises what she had done right from the start "No, not really. It was my own fault". But she thought nothing of it at the time. She doesn't really need much convincing from the inspector because she admitted it was her fault, and she felt awful for it. "I feel now I can never go there again. Oh- why did this have to happen?"
Gerald showed some sense of responsibility when he rescued the girl from the unwelcome attentions of another man, fed her and found her
somewhere to live. Yet he gave in to his own desire for personal
pleasure and eventually abandoned the girl without knowing or caring about what happened to her.
Gerald didn't want Sheila finding out, of course, she already knew something was going on last summer as we learnt about earlier in the play but she didn't know what. At first he tries to hide it, he tells Sheila they can keep it a secret, but she says "Why- you fool- he knows. Of course he knows"
The inspector didn't even have to make Gerald confess, when the inspector mentioned the name 'Daisy Renton' He suddenly said 'Whattt' and seemed very surprised and anxious, he gave it away himself without the inspectors help.
Gerald is the only one who cares for the girl but can't marry her because she is his social inferior.
Mrs Birling refused to give Eva help when she came to the charity as she had no money, no job, and no home and was pregnant. She pretended her name was Miss Birling, so Mrs Birling refused her offer as she was angry she used her family name.
Mrs Birling enjoys her power and used her power to make sure Eva did not get help off her charity. Mrs Birling was manipulated and controlled by the inspector. He asked a lot of awkward questions and whenever Mrs Birling went off the point, the inspector came right back on it. Also, Sheila agreed with the inspector, and said things to her Mother Aswell as the inspector, in a way you could say they 'ganged' up on her. Mrs Birling accepted no blame for the girls' death. "I'm sorry she should have come to such a horrible end. But I accept no blame for it all"
Mrs Birling accepts her responsibility as chairwoman of the Women's
Charity Organisation, but only sees a responsibility to help those that
she feels are deserving of help.
Finally, Eric was last to be questioned by the inspector, he had got the girl pregnant. He stole money from his dads business, and when the girl found out it was stolen refused to take any more, which left her penniless. Even though Eva is poor, she knows right from wrong. She has principles. By the time Eric came home, everybody knew what he had done. Eric confesses it his party his fault. He also says he cannot go to his father for anything; he is not the typical dad he can go and talk to. Then he says to his Mother "(nearly at breaking point) then- you killed her. She came to you to protect me- and you killed her- and the child she'd have had too- my child- your own grandchild- you killed them both- damm you, damm you" This tells us how bad Eric feels, he comes into conflict with his Mother blaming it on her, he is very distressed. We then get a bit of guilt for Mrs Birling. She replies, "No- Eric- please- I didn't know- I didn't understand" Now, Mrs Birling starts to take responsibility for what she did, now she realises what she caused but only because its her own son. The inspector knows Eric better than his parents. They are a dysfunctional family.
When the inspector leaves, the family are all very messed up, Sheila is very upset, whilst her's and Gerald's relationship is wrecked. Mr Birling remains very angry. There is conflict between Mrs Birling and Eric, and a few truths finally come out about Eric. Mr and Mrs Birling believe they can go on as before. There is huge tension that has been built by in the inspector within the family and its members.
The Inspector talks about how "we are members of one body" and that we "are responsible for each other". However, Mr Birling makes a speech about how "a man has to make his own way" and how "a man has to mind his own business and look after himself". Priestley uses this opposition in order to dishonour capitalism and instead promote socialism. Another effective device used by Priestley is that of timings. He times the entrance of the Inspector so that he enters just after Mr Birling has made his speech, as if to discredit everything Mr Birling has just said.
The Inspectors name, Inspector Goole, indicates this as Goole sounds like Ghoul and Inspector sounds like spectre. This makes the audience a bit weary about the inspector.
He also makes the audience realise that they are "members of one body" and that they should try their best to help people like Eva Smith, otherwise, as the Inspector implies, "they will be taught in fire and blood and anguish". This almost acts as a threat to the audience and incites them to recognize the value of Priestley's message.
The inspectors role is related to the historical and social context, at that time there were a lot of poor people and a lot of people were alone and homeless. Women were also considered less important than men were. In the story, Eva had no man to look after her- Gerald and Eric both treat her badly. We are shown the comfortable home and rich way of life of the Birling
family. We see the desperate attempts of the workers to increase their poor wages and the drab and sordid life that the girl is forced to live as a result of the actions of people such as the Birlings.
The Inspector champions the cause of the poor. He tried to get the others to accept that all people share a common humanity and so are all part of an interdependent community.
This message does seem to get through to Sheila and Eric Sheila is ready to accept and demonstrate this feeling of compassion, but her father simply dismisses the idea of community in which responsibility and guilt are shared and that we have to look out for each other.
Sheila and Eric learn from what the Inspector teaches them about responsibility. Sheila herself explains:
"I remember what he said, how he looked, and what he made me feel. Fire and blood and anguish."
Through the Inspector, Priestley shows us that being wealthy is not enough, nor is being successful. What that status means is that we have to take on responsibilities for others in our society. We cannot have these privileges without the responsibility.
"Public men Mr. Birling, have responsibilities as well as privileges"
Priestley is trying to teach his audience about responsibility for others. He was a socialist in his own beliefs, and throughout the play Priestley uses the character of the Inspector to teach his beliefs to the audience, in contrast with the arrogant beliefs regarding responsibility of Mr. and Mrs Birling.
Events in the play show that all members of the Birling family are implicated and have some form of responsibility for the death of Eva Smith, but only the likeable characters accept their responsibility for what they have done and decide to change their ways.
Our actions do affect others: as the Inspector tells the Birlings, there are hundreds of Eva Smiths and John Smiths out there; every action can have consequences. With wealth and status comes a duty to help those in the community less fortunate than ourselves.
Priestly also uses his characters to expose the attitudes of society because there were variety of social problems which were raised by Eva's situation. She is an example of the most vulnerable members of the society of the time.
Just before the Inspector leaves the Birling household is the best place to look for him being used as a mouthpiece for Priestley's own socialist views. The Inspector states what Priestley believes about society and how it should work. He points out the mistakes that have been made and gives the Birlings and the audience an opportunity to change. He challenges us to take responsibility for our actions, and to treat the working class with equality
Priestly conveys dramatic tension in the Inspectors last speech and carries the overall message of the play.
The Inspector's speech basically sums up the whole message of the play. It comes at a very strategic time, dramatically. All of the sins of the Birlings (and Gerald) have been revealed, and they have found out that not only did Eva Smith suffer because of their heartlessness, but they have lost a grandchild (Eric's child). They have completely fallen apart, to the point where Eric almost hits his mother. They all feel guilty at this point, which allows the Inspector to take charge. Look carefully at how he has manipulated them to this point - inspecting them in a particular order and to a very specific time limit.
The Inspector now has the full attention of the characters and the audience, so he can make the point that he has been leading up to all night. They can do nothing to help Eva Smith, but there are millions of people just like her who need help. The Inspector tells us how important it is to take care of each other - if people are made to suffer, we will suffer too. The words, 'We are members of one body,' is at the heart of the socialist message of the play - we must take responsibility for the welfare of others - not just our own. It is not just directed towards the Birlings; we are expected to respond to this message as well.
This moment is already full of tension, but the Inspector's final sentences raise the tension even more with their foreboding. He tell us that if we don't listen to him then we will have to pay the price in 'fire and blood and anguish' (like the fire, blood and aguish in World War One) our lives can never be the same.
Many people believe that these words were actually a prediction of World Wars I and II and even the Russian Revolution. People did not learn the Inspector's lesson, which is why the Holocaust happened. It is also because of these words that we become so angry when it seems later on that the Birlings are going to get away with it. We feel that the Inspector has lied to us and that people like them will not have to suffer. This is why the ending is such a relief (and a surprise!) to us - it seems the Birlings are not going to get away with it after all.
Kate Shanahan
An Inspector Calls Coursework
