“Sheila: (cutting in, as he hesitates) I know. Somehow he
Makes you.
The plot is also an element that helps to reflect the genre of a typical detective thriller. The author starts the play by using a party/ celebration in a wealthy household as an entry because he knows that the people watching the play are middle class/ higher class people because they would be the only ones able to afford the fee of a play and they have come to the theatre expecting to be entertained. The play starts with a “Soft and Intimate” lighting but changes as the inspector makes his entrance into a “Hard and Tense” lighting which creates the vision of a thriller and increases the suspense in the audience. The bright light suggests that the family are being interrogated and no secrets can be hidden.
The inspector has remained entirely in control of the character’s emotions at all times. It can be said that he has “massively taken charge”. He is regarded as “Wonderingly and dubiously” by Sheila as she later notes that no-one told him anything that he didn’t already know. The inspector’s character is powerful and all knowing and through the revelation of the “Chain of events” J.B Priestly has successfully moved his audience and get them to think about how they act/behave towards people that are not the same class as themselves. The inspector’s police like behaviours show that he thinks like a policeman e.g. When he refuses Mr Birlings offer of a drink by saying
“I’m on duty”
The inspector is also described as creating “an impression of massiveness and solidity”. He speaks carefully and weightily and has a habit of looking hard at a person he addresses before actually speaking. The inspector shows his authority in many ways for example he cuts in when a character is speaking especially Mr Birling which shows that both men live in world of opposition to each other’s views.
“Inspector: (imperturbable) Yes. Now what about Mr Birling”
J.B Priestly chose this kind of play for his criticism of the Birling’s and Gerald Croft because having taking into account the fact that most people in the audience would think and act like them and by accusing them of a murder they know nothing of the audience could start thinking that what happened to the Birling’s could happen to any one of them and they could then start changing their attitudes towards working class people. The Birling’s have not committed any crime but their treatment of Eva/Daisy smith is a moral crime.
The impression of the inspectors “Omniscience” is created by his knowledge of each characters story before the story has been actually told to him. He also knows about the suicide before it actually happens.
The inspector could be described as the “inspector of conscience” because having read the play, the way he asks his questions seem to get to the character more than the question of a “normal” inspector. He makes them confess as if they have a guilty conscience. His questions are straight forward and challenging that discourages from adding any twist to their story.
“He has a disconcerting habit of looking hard at the person he addresses before
Actually speaking”
His challenging behaviour changes as the characters guilt increases and he feels that he has broken the “Stone cold” feeling that made them feel superior to working class citizens
