Goole makes judgements about the characters which they feel are unusual and inappropriate for a police inspector to make. He undermines their complacent assumptions that they are reasonable citizens. Those few characters who resist telling the inspector the truth suffer more then those who are open with him. The Inspector says to Gerald “If you’re easy with me, I’m easy with you”. He has not made any judgement upon Gerald; he also tries to stop Sheila from blaming herself too much.
The Inspector persuades characters to reveal things which they would rather were not known. Sheila points out that there is something about the Inspector which makes them tell him things because they he “he already knows”.
The Inspector allows the characters to see how their behaviour affects others to encourage them to learn from what has happened. He does this my allowing everyone to stay in the dining room; however he only shows the picture to one character at a time. This allows the others to see the look of horror on the character been interviewed at the time and goes along with the Inspectors theory that everyone has had a part to play. However later on in the performance it becomes aware that the inspector could have been showing a different picture of a young woman to each of the characters. This would then allow proof to the phrases “We are all connected to one another, and our actions affect other people’s lives” and “everyone has the right to be treated fairly and with respect, whatever their class or social status”.
The stage directions for the inspector stress his purposefulness and deliberate manner of addressing people. There is an air of menace about him. He is single-minded in pursuing his chosen line of investigation. He controls the stage by only showing the picture of Eva Smith/Daisy Denton to only one character at a time. This allows the audience to see each character in turns reaction to seeing this picture. This could have been done by JB Priestly to allow the audience time to consider who has the most responsibility in the case. The Inspector alone is certain of his facts; these facts are however questioned by the other cast, yet only after he has left.
The Inspectors final speech sums the whole play up by saying, “there are millions and millions of Eva Smith’s and John Smiths all ‘intertwined with our lives’ and that because we do not live alone we are responsible for each other”. After this there is the dramatic exit from the dining room by the inspector leaves the characters and audience to reflect on that night’s events. In his final speech there is a biblical tone. This is evident when he warns them about “fire, and blood and anguish” this could also be a direct reference to the 1st and second World War. The inspector’s prophecy was intended to do this by Priestly, I believe, to remind audiences of the necessities of being responsible for one another.
Inspector Goole’s name is an obvious pun on Ghoul, a sprit or ghost. He could be seen as some kind of sprit, sent on behalf of the dead girl to get her own back on the characters. It seems that Priestly did not want to have one simple explanation to the audience on who the inspector really is. The dramatic power of the inspector lies in the mystery of this. If JB Priestly had revealed the identity of the “inspector” it would have spoilt the tension that was created.
Sometimes the inspector behaves as a social conscience. He points out that social responsibilities become greater as privileges increase. He acts as the conscience as he is showing that he knows a lot about what has happened yet nobody knows who or what he is. He is trying to get the Birling’s to learn from the mistakes they have made. He is doing this by possibly giving them a warning that they are all but one person and everything they do will affect everyone. This could therefore be linked to the modern day in that if we all do a little to reduce our carbon footprint then we could reduce the affects of global warming.
Priestly has encouraged the audience to recognise that selfish pursuit of riches and power can be destructive. This is done when Mr Birling sacked Eva Smith just because she had been given a better job but not a pay rise, so consequently she asked for one, and Birling declined it and that was the start of Eva Smith/Daisy Renton’s problems that led to her suicide.
The Inspector is also used as a vehicle to allow the audience to be aware that our lives are all linked and that our lives are all linked and that our behaviour affects one another. He has told the family that each of them is to blame in the suicide of an innocent girl. This allows the audience to show they are all responsible for each other in society. They will believe that if one person fires a person and then they may get into the wrong mindset at their next job for example. Priestly has tried to get the audience to understand, I believe, that if the whole country work together rather then against each other, then we as a community will able to make a better society.
At the end of the play, the characters all have mixed feelings towards their involvement in the death of Eva Smith. The two younger characters are both finding it hard to come to terms with what happened. I believe that Sheila is blaming herself too much, and is trying to get her father and mother, who are both been arrogant about their responsibility, to admit that they have had an involvement. I also feel that Eric is feeling sorry for himself in the fact that he was probably the one that pushed Daisy Renton too far and his participation with her was too much for her. He could also be thinking that he still loved her but wished he had never made her pregnant. Had this happened he is thinking, the young girl could and probably would have still been alive that evening.
At the end of the performance the family’s only hope is provided in the fact that the Inspector Goole may not actually be an inspector. Personally I feel that the family think a huge weight has been cast off their shoulders. Until that is Mr Birling gets a phone call telling them that an inspector is coming round to ask them some questions. This is the end of the performance and creates tension for all the family and audience.
In conclusion I believe that the play ‘An Inspector Calls’ that it works extremely well on both a realistic level and also a symbolic level. I feel that the Inspector gave the family a huge favour that night by going and preparing them for the real inspector. Also it made the family have a good look at each other and I feel the Mr Birling finally realised that his life wasn’t as rosy as he felt it was. I also believe that the Inspector displayed the moral and social message to the audience perfectly. I believe this was best shown during his final speech.
