Mr Birling is extremely pleased about the engagement of Sheila to Gerald Croft, as he believes it will be good for his business. It is central to the play that his attitude to business and the fact that a man should ‘look after his own’ is discredited by the confessions that the inspector brings about. When the inspector arrives Mr Birling has no idea what he wants, ‘Yes, yes. Horrible business. But I don't understand why you should come here, Inspector.’ He presumes that it is because he is a magistrate, but he is soon corrected when the inspectors questioning begins. At first Mr Birling is not over concerned about Eva Smith, as he only saw her as cheap labour. But as the play continues we see that he is only bothered about himself not receiving a knighthood. When the inspector leaves, and it is discovered that inspector Goole was a fake, we would expect that all of the characters would have learnt from what had happened. Instead Mr Birling cannot see that he has to change and goes back to his old self again. The Birlings daughter, Sheila, is engaged to Gerald Croft. She is in her early twenties and is described as ‘pretty’. The attention surrounding her important engagement gives her great pleasure, showing her to be somewhat self-centred. She thus starts the play as someone whom the audience would regard as superficial and 'very pleased with life' however, this changes once she hears of the girl’s death and her potential part in it and becomes more caring and sensitive. She shows genuine remorse about the fact that it was her who caused the girl to lose her job at the shop. Sheila’s response to the tragedy is one of the few encouraging things to come out of the play. She is genuinely upset when she hears of Eva's death and learns from her own behaviour. Throughout the time that the inspector is there, Sheila realises that she did not take the time to find out about other people of a lower stature than herself. When she finds out how her father runs his business, she is disgraced and immediately objects, ‘these girls aren’t cheap labour-they’re people.’ this tells us that although she was self-centred, Sheila has realised that the inspector’s visit was for a reason and it told her that she was wrong to judge people. Not only is she prepared to admit her faults, she also appears keen and anxious to change her behaviour in the future, 'I'll never, never do it again'. Sheila has learnt her lesson from the night’s events.
The inspector plays a key role in the play. J.B Priestley uses Inspector Goole to create tension and suspense. The Inspector’s skilful manipulation of each character through his barrage of direct questions and his crisp responses leaves the Birlings awkwardly unsettled in a room filled with tension. This heightened tension, which pervades the play from the moment he appears, confirms his role as more than a staging device.
The inspector’s name, 'Goole' sounds like ghoul, this could portray the inspector as being ghost as no-one knows where he came from or where he goes when the interrogation is over. It is possible that Priestley has deliberately called the Inspector 'Goole' to create an esoteric image and create suspense as well as tension towards the audience. The inspector confirms Priestley's achievement in creating a character shrouded in mystery, whose actions and manner creates and maintains tension at a pace that keeps the audience in suspense from beginning to end.
In turn the inspector allows all of the characters to look at a photograph of Eva Smith or Daisy Renton, ‘Inspector takes a photograph, about postcard size, out of his pocket and goes to Birling.’ When he does this he does not allow more than one person to look at it. This could possibly leave the audience questioning themselves, to whether or not the pictures that the inspector is showing the family are all the same.
The Inspector's interrogation of each individual character does more than add to the prevailing tension. The characters slowly reveal to the audience the great moral divide between the two generations. Eric and Sheila, from the outset, are visibly shaken by the news of Eva Smith, whilst their parents grow increasingly defensive about their involvement with the girl's death. The children show compassion and deep regret for what has happened to Eva.
Eric's admission confirms that Inspector Goole's visit was justified and that valuable lessons were learned. This again confirms that Inspector Goole is indeed more than a staging device. He proves to be a powerful force, a character, whose skilful and disciplined investigative approach is victorious in initiating positive change in the hearts, the minds and the attitudes of Eric and Sheila. This thereby increases the audience’s optimism and faith that disadvantaged people will in the future be treated with dignity and respect.
J.B Priestly also uses the inspector to put across the socialist message of society to the audience. To me the message is that society is a community and that each individual has a role in which they have responsibility for others, and that a person has to care for another, and see past the divide of social classes.
J.B Priestley’s ending is extremely abrupt. This could have been done in order to make the audience think about the situation. I think that the ending includes the most important speech in the whole play, ‘Just remember this. One Eva Smith has gone but there are millions and millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths still left with us, with their lives, their hopes and fears, their suffering and chance of happiness, all intertwined with our lives, with what we think, say, and do. We don't live alone. 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 that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish. Good Night.’ I think that the speech sums up all of Priestley's views by using the Inspector to try and get the message across to all of mankind about how we should learn how to live equally.
I think that ‘An Inspector Calls is a very good play and I highly enjoyed it. J.B Priestley has used the play to put across his strong views about equal rights and I think that he uses the characters very well to get his point across to everyone.
