Inspector: “If men will not learn this lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish. Good night.”
In the play we watched at Poole Lighthouse the Inspector was portrayed as a very emotional person sometimes making physical contact with Sheila, almost shouting at the characters. I believe this may be due the idea that we could see more of the inspector as he went though with his investigations. The audience watching the play could pick up more on body language and expression and so more emotion was received whereas the play when read is simply in our mind and so less detail is created. The previous quote I have mentioned by the inspector is far more affective on stage as the onstage presence can be powerful and the volume is better understood. This presentation helps us get a better grip on the impact of the inspector as we can feel his presence affecting us as well as the Birling family. The stage version seemed different to that of the BBC’s as the inspector is of a different character yet a strong impact is created by both.
The family doesn’t always react well to some of the Inspectors comments or actions for example: Mr. Birling has just explained why he sacked Eva and this conversation follows,
Inspector: “Why?”
Birling: (surprised) “Did you say ‘Why?’?”
Inspector: “Yes. Why did you refuse?”
Birling: “Well Inspector, I don’t see that it’s any concern of yours how I choose to run my business. Is it now?”
Inspector: “It might be, you know.”
Birling: “I don’t like that tone.”
The Inspector provokes Birling and makes him feel uneasy slowly leading on to the next story saying how she had nowhere to go.
The Inspector is very clever and he is determined to make each character acknowledge their responsibility. This doesn’t necessarily work after the Inspector has left and Gerald has found out the truth about him. The family is divided, with Sheila and Gerald feeling the Impact of what they have done strongly, while the older generation pass of the event saying it was a prank and it didn’t really mean anything.
Sheila: (bitterly) “I suppose we are all nice people now.”
Gerald: “There isn’t any such inspector we’ve been had.”
This proves the impact on each generation perhaps implying the elders are less able to change their ways while the young are changeable.
I believe the ending of the play was vital shaking everything up bringing new ideas to the head bringing new possibilities up. The whole family is shocked by the phone call making the arrival and actions of the inspector that bit more suspicious and adding to the impact on the family.
The ideas of who the Inspector is, carry on during the play and after. Different thoughts arise with people thinking maybe he was a dodgy ex-policeman, maybe he could have been a guardian angel sent from God. This is an idea soon dismissed using the thought that Eva had already been hurt and saddened by the events if the inspector was an angel surely he would have prevented this happening. The Inspector’s shrewd and determined questions introduce a strong sense of unease an almost ghoulish attribute yet another possibility of who the inspector could be. Another thought is that Mr. Goole is a collective consciousness of the group’s guilt, they all have done something bad and they know it, their guilt becomes a person who arrives to un earth and make them realize their part in Eva’s undoing.
The Inspector causes much disruption to the Birling family with a great impact on the family. Mr. Goole keeps the story going introducing new story lines, different threads in the story each with their own amount of impact on each character. It is hard to believe that all the characters bad deeds link in together but the Inspector does say
Inspector: “One Eva Smith has gone but there are millions and millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths still left with us,”
I believe this is a comment with the most impact on the morality of the story, trying to make the characters realise it isn’t just how we treat one person, but every person we come into contact with during our lives. The Inspector creates enough impact to change the way in which most of the characters live their lives. I believe it was a vital change for the Birlings although the rift between the young and the olds values still exist.
