The Inspector is unreal in many other ways as well. His treatment of the Birlings, especially Mr and Mrs Birling is extraordinary. On page 46, Act 2, for example, as Mr Birling tries to protest, he turns on him saying, “Don’t stammer and yammer at me again, man. I’m losing all patience with you people”. He is not at all impressed by their influential friends or position and seems to control them through his interrogation. It is highly unlikely that an Inspector at that time, of a lower class than the Birlings, would ever dare to talk to them in the way he does in the play. He is also more concerned with moral issues rather than legal issues, and at times he grows extremely emotional, which distinguishes him from an ordinary policeman.
Consequently, it is difficult to accept the Inspector as a real character, although it is clear that he is Priestley's medium for communicating his socialist views. The Inspector could simply be Priestley. Alternatively, the Inspector could be a supernatural, God-like being or the personification of the social conscience that all the characters lack or suppress. The name, Goole may be a hint to the word ghoul, a spirit; the Inspector being the spirit of Eva Smith's child, who has returned to show the Birlings how they brought about the horrific death of his mother. Finally, he could also be seen as a dramatic device, the character that controls the pace and tension of the play and slowly unravelling the story of Eva's life as a catalyst for the play's events. However, there is no certain interpretation of the Inspector, and he could be any of the previous interpretations or a combination of any of them.
The Inspector has an enormous impact on the play itself. His appearance suddenly alters the mood of the play, turning the evening from a joyful celebration to an evening of confession and punishment for each of the characters. This impact is extremely clear when the state of the characters before the Inspector's arrival is compared to their state after his departure. At the start of the play, the characters are all lively and happy, chatting amiably with one another. However, when the Inspector leaves, there is a great deal of tension and hostility between the members of the Birling family, and 'Sheila is still crying. Mrs Birling has collapsed into a chair. Eric is brooding desperately.’
During his interrogation, the Inspector attacks each of the characters very rapidly, giving them little time to think and pushing them straight into their confession. The Inspector also catches the characters off guard, for example when he mentions the name Daisy Renton, Gerald's reaction clearly indicates he knew her. Although the Inspector does in some sense control what the characters say, he does not control their reactions. He only uses his information about the girl's life and character, her photograph, and constant reminders of the horrific death she has suffered, to get the characters to confess and face up to their actions. However, ultimately, it is for the characters to decide whether they want to change or not.
The Inspector affects the characters in very different ways. Each character is punished by him. Birling believes that his family reputation will be ruined, and his chances of knighthood shattered, Sheila is ashamed of her selfishness and spite and is punished by her own conscience, Gerald has his affair with Eva revealed in front of Sheila and his engagement broken, Mrs Birling has her illusions and superficial beliefs about the respectability of her family shattered by Eric and Eric's immoral nature is unveiled in front of his parents. However, at the end of the play, not all the characters have changed.
The Inspector has a strong impression on Sheila and Eric. Even after realising that the Inspector was an impostor, they are sorry for their actions and are still tormented by their guilt. They learn that they are responsible for the lives of others, and decide to change their personality. However, Mr and Mrs Birling and Gerald do not change their outlook. On realising that the Inspector was not real, and that there will be no public inquest, they start partying again. For them, it was not their conscience or guilt, but the consequences if their actions were known by the public that was punishing them.
The play was written just after the Second World War but set before the First World War. Its purpose was to communicate Priestley's controversial, socialist views to the audience and this was achieved through the Inspector. In the Inspector's final speech, Priestley addresses both the audience and characters on stage. Throughout the play, Priestley attempts to explain to the audience that they must change their views, and accept some responsibility for the lives and fate of others, in order to avoid the “fire and blood and anguish” of the two previous world wars. According to him, it was the selfish attitude of people like Mr Birling, who believed that one cannot “accept responsibility for everything that happened to everybody”, that causes wars and conflicts.
The Inspector has an important role and function in the play. At the start of the play, he is accepted as a real character, but gradually, throughout the play, his credibility as a real inspector and physical human character disappears. The mystery of the Inspector remains unsolved, and adds a new and interesting dimension to the play. He also has an exceptionally significant impact on the play and quickly alters the atmosphere of the play. His primary function as a character is to lead the audience through the life of Eva, and teach the characters on stage and more importantly the audience that each and every one of us is a member of the same body and we are all “responsible for each other”.
