The inspector enters the scene out of the blue and is a mystery, he stays a mystery throughout the whole play and not much information is revealed on his appearance or personality. The only description given about him was that his name is inspector “Goole”. He is present at the Birlings house to make them aware of the tragedy they have caused and how there selfish actions are fatal “it’s to late. She’s dead”. The inspector believes in taking responsibility for our own actions “we’ll have to share our guilt”. He also believes that we should live in a community.
The inspector enters at the point where Mr. Birling is lecturing Eric and Gerald about looking after “yourself and your own”. This is ironic, as Mr. Birling does not care much about looking after people as he discharged Eva Smith for asking for a pay rise. The inspector goes to the Birling family and questions them, as he knows every one of them has had an involvement with Eva Smith. Mr. Birling does not believe in taking responsibility in his own actions, “if we were all responsible for everything that happened to everybody we’d had anything to do with, it would be very awkward, wouldn’t it”. The inspector is there to teach them a lesson, on caring for others and taking responsibility for your own actions. “We don’t live alone. We are members of one body”.
The inspector’s interview techniques are useful in creating drama. It helps us to visualize each of the characters mistakes and how it contributed to the death of Eva Smith. The inspector interviews each character one at a time, “one person and one line of inquiry at a time”. He singles our family members one at a time, he finds out what they are hiding? And the audience is left in suspense, as they want to know whom he will target next. His technique draws all the attention to that one character and the audience are able to focus on that one character instead of getting bewildered with all of them. The inspector concentrates all of his attention to that one character always starring at them and intimidating them. Mr and Mrs Birling are reluctant to answer the inspector’s questions. This shows that they have something to hide and the inspector intimidates them more and more until he breaks them and they answer his questions, “No” and “we’ve several hundred young women there, y’know, and they keep changing”. Mr Birling is hesitant “this girl left us nearly two years ago”, he is afraid there might be a public scandal and he will not find his “way into the next honours list”.
Priestly has used a variety of techniques to create tension; he uses tension to build cliffhangers. The inspector pauses many times and silence passes. “(After a pause…) well what is it then?” the pause creates tension and lets the audience know when something is wrong. The inspector’s character is calm and very tranquil; at one point in the play he loses his temper “and be quiet for a moment and listen to me”. The aggression of the inspector lets the audience know immediately something terrible has gone wrong. The lack or presence of light can create tension, as it is the beginning of a build up to a major event. The whole play is set in one room, this symbolises that the Birlings have no escape route and they will receive their punishment. The way the children speak to their parents at the end of the play even though they rang up the infirmary and found out there were no suicide deaths for months creates tension. It is almost as if they know something the others don’t and they realise there mistakes, it leads the audience to believe something is about to happen, “you’re pretending everything’s just as it was before”. Right at the end of the play when the Birling family believe everything is back to normal they receive a phone call and everyone is silent. It creates excitement as well as tension and it gives the play a real sense of drama.
Five of the inspector’s speeches have been selected and each one will be individually directed. The inspector will enter well dressed in a black suit to symbolise the death of Eva Smith. Bright light would focus on the inspector emphasising his importance and giving a hidden meaning of him being supernatural. The scene will be set in a modern day dining room full of furniture showing how rich the Birlings are. Classical music will be played; the music will climax and will stop seconds before the inspector speaks. The inspector would speak in a deep toned voice to show his authority and would be positioned one metre away from Mr. Birling, slowly walking around him in circles drawing attention to him or her and Mr. Birling. The inspector apart from the odd smile would keep a straight face to show his or hers seriousness.
“I’d like some information Mr. Birling”, this would be said with authority telling Mr. Birling he had to answer the question and there was no escape route. “Two hours ago a young woman died in the infirmary”. This would be said very slowly to create emotional feelings for Eva Smith. “Burnt her inside of course”, the inspector would speak in a devilish voice and as if he had hatred against the Birlings.
In this particular speech the inspectors voice would keep getting louder and louder until he is practically shouting the last words. “She’d used more than one name. But her original name – her real name – was Eva Smith”. As the voice gets louder and louder it puts more emphasis on what the inspectors saying and the name Eva Smith sticks in the mind of the audience.
“When I was looking at that dead girl”… “Eva Smith lost her job with Birling and company”… “Had to leave there because you were annoyed with yourself and passed the annoyance on to her”. His face will be as still as a house yet his voice will be aggressive and fearless when he says “dead girl”. The next two phrases will be said sternly, it will be like the inspector is annoyed with the Birlings for their incompetence. The inspector will not move his body but his head will move from character to character slowly.
“This girl killed herself – and died a horrible death. But each of you helped to kill her. Remember that. Never forget it. But then I don’t think you ever will”. This will be said as if the inspector looks down on these people because of their stupidity and ignorance. Each word will be spoken slowly to stress the importance of the inspector’s speech.
“But just remember this. One Eva Smith has gone – but there are 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, and what we think and 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 learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish. Good night” these are the last words of the inspector and so are very important. They will be spoken in a loud voice but quietening down when he says “and I tell you that the time will soon come when” and the tempo and volume of the inspector’s voice will increase for effect.
Mystery is spread throughout the whole play but it reaches its highest point towards the end of the play when we realise there is a twist in the story and Eva Smith is not yet dead. This raises questions on who was the inspector and how could he have known that Eva Smith was about to commit suicide. The inspector’s name was “Goole”, this relates to ghoul, which is a ghost. Many people believe he was a ghost. The photograph shown to each of the characters may have been different and so they do not really know if they have all contributed to the death of Eva Smith. “ I haven’t much time” is the words of the inspector, as he knows that Gerald is about to come back with news of him not being a real inspector.
