Twentieth Century Drama - What is the role and function of the Inspector in J.B Priestley's 'An Inspector Calls'?

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Navjit Singh Surdhar 11T1

12th October 2002

Twentieth Century Drama

What is the role and function of the Inspector in J.B Priestley’s ‘An Inspector Calls’?

‘An Inspector Calls’ written by J.B Priestley, is set in 1912 and was written in 1945. In the play the Inspector appears to be very plain, dull and straightforward wearing a dark suit, and is rather sinister and suspicious. He, on his appearance, has a huge sense of “massiveness” to him, and has the authority to control and pull out information from his suspects through his persuasive techniques. The Inspector has a sense of fear and trouble about him, which helps create a tense atmosphere.

The Inspector represents central concerns and themes throughout the play through his image of law and justice in the play. This sense of feeling about him in the play to the audience shows that he is looked up to, and maybe is considered as being rather powerful. He also acts in a way of making the characters think about their conscience. This also adds tension to the characters and the audience, as this is also a sign of authority and control. It may also show that he is omniscient, and is a god or spirit like figure, which may explain why his name is ‘Inspector Goole’, as the writer has used play on words, as the word ‘Ghoul’ defines as a spirit. The Inspector also uses his role to make the characters feel collective responsibility, as the makes all the characters feel guilty for Eva Smith’s death through gathering information and by telling the story his own way, which is his role in the play. He gains control when he leaves the play as, at first one of the characters; ‘Mr Birling’ expresses his opinions on society by saying “the way some of these cranks talk and write now, you’d think everybody has to look after everybody else, as if we were all mixed up together like bees in a hive-community and all that nonsense”. This tells us that before meeting the Inspector, the characters are narrow-minded, and are all individualists, who also think that “a man has to mind his own business and look after his own”. This speech given by Mr Birling, shows that the characters as a whole are very arrogant, and think highly of themselves. This speech was also interrupted upon the arrival of the Inspector, which also shows his power and control, as he was able to end this inequitable speech on individualism. Because of the interruption, this shows that the Inspector was able to undermine Birling’s views, or philosophy on life, which again shows the power and control that the Inspector has. He also is has the role of sending out moral views of social life, and is a type of warning teaching them not to be egotistic, and to think of how the rest of the society lives.

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The Inspector operates as a dramatic device through the dramatic structure of the play, by moving the story forwards at his own pace, choosing when to get information and how he ends each act or scene. The Inspector chooses when to gather his information by questioning each character once at a time, and in a specific order, as when Eric wishes to be questioned early, the Inspector replies sharply “No, I can’t do that yet. I’m sorry, but he’ll have to wait.” This shows that the inspector knows what he is doing, and is rather forceful in getting what ...

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