The way Birling speaks to Gerald is very significant in this play. He speaks as though he is trying to impress him, which seems unnecessary since Gerald is about to become a member of the family and is a great deal younger than Mr. Birling. The statement ‘you ought to like this port, Gerald’ seems to the audience as though Mr. Birling is seeking Gerald’s approval of the port. This constant need for respect and approval from other members of the community insinuates that Birling is of a higher class. It has already been made obvious to the audience that J.B Priestley finds higher-class people like Mr. Birling pretentious, so by using dialogue like this to convey Birling’s need for approval shows the audience that all higher-class people want to be admired for material possessions such as port, and not accepted for their personality. This is important because Sheila had Eva Smith fired from her job due to jealousy of her appearance.
Another example conveying Mr. Birling’s pretence is the comment made to Gerald about how he might find his way ‘into the next Honours List. Just a knighthood of course’. This is another pretentious title that he can put himself under, just to seem grander and to make him able to exert more power over other members of the public.
Birling seems to dismiss all female characters. This tells us that they lived in a patriarchal society and women did not have a chance to express their feelings, beliefs or needs. This is again shown when Eva Smith, the girl who committed suicide, asks for a raise in her salary. According to Mr. Birlnig, she was ‘a good worker’ and was about to be promoted into a leading operator, when she asked for a raise in salary. Mr. Birling refused, although he could easily afford it, and then sacked her for asking for more money.
The moment the doorbell rings is extremely significant to the play. The sound of the doorbell is described as ‘sharp’, portraying the discomfort and guilt of the Birling family. Birling has just told Gerald and Eric that ‘a man has to mind his own business and look after himself’. This implies that he feels that nobody else matters so long as he is satisfied, but then the Inspector arrives to tell him otherwise. Lighting is used to suggest how Priestley is exposing the injustices of the working class who are largely put upon by the prosperous manufacturers. The lighting is ‘intimate until the Inspector arrives, and then it should be brighter and harder’. The lighting is one of the many dramatic devices used by Priestley to convey the purpose of the play. In this case, the pink intimacy of the lights symbolizes the unity of the Birling family and therefore the unity of the upper class and their dismissal of any lower classes, but it is then hardened by reality, represented by Inspector Goole, who informs them that other people do matter because a girl has just died due to their neglect. The hard, bright light raises tension because it portrays how the Inspector enlightens the Birling family to their role in Eva Smith’s death and how their secrets are about to be exposed.
The Inspector is described as creating ‘at once an impression of massiveness’. This suggests that in contrast with the Birlings he is very confident and does not need to put on any pretence. His attitude is intimidating because ‘he speaks carefully, weightily, and has a disconcerting habit of looking hard at the person he addresses before actually speaking.’ The entrance of the Inspector will raise tension because the questions asked by him will make the audience question themselves. When the Inspector arrives the celebratory mood is shattered. He turns the ‘nice little family celebration’ into a ‘nasty mess’ by making the Birlings admit their mistakes to each other and indeed themselves.
The Inspector appears to be omniscient and is the catalyst in allowing each character to reveal their responsibility towards Eva Smith’s death. The Inspector has a unique way in extracting information from each member of the family, which is a dramatic device itself. The characters react to his forceful questioning by admitting, albeit unwillingly, to everything they have done to contribute to Eva Smith’s death. Sheila’s comment to Gerald saying that the Inspector ‘somehow makes you’ admit your crimes insinuates that the Inspector is an almost ghostly character, and has the power to make people admit things that they do not want to. Reinforcing the idea that the Inspector is a ghostly character is the fact that the Birlings ‘hardly ever told him anything he didn’t know’. The Inspector seemed to know everything that they had done to contribute to the innocent girl’s death before they had revealed anything to him, which again creates a sense of tension and fear for the audience. The Inspector’s name is also taken from the avenging spirit known as a ‘ghoul’, which will add to the tension.
Each member of the Birling family reacts to the Inspector’s questioning in their own unique way. Mr. Birling, the first to be questioned, is anxious to get the Inspector out of the house so that they can continue the celebration, and he fails to see how he played a part in the girl’s death. Arthur Birling is not affected by being confronted with the consequences of his actions, but instead is moved to anger. When he says to the Inspector ‘ I’ve told you all I know- and it doesn’t seem to me very important’ J.B Priestley has made it apparent to the audience that Mr. Birling does not care very much for his role in Eva Smith’s death. This is another example of how Priestley has used the dramatic device of dialogue to highlight the un-caring, ignorant attitude of the upper class.
In contrast, Sheila is moved to tears of shock and guilt when she learns of her contribution towards Eva Smith’s death. She ‘felt rotten about it at the time’ and now feels ‘a lot worse’. This progression from naïve innocence to more mature understanding is clearly conveyed to the audience by the stage direction, so that the contrast Sheila represents to the attitude of her parents is fully realised. Sheila gives a ‘half-stifled sob, and then runs out’, symbolising the guilt she is feeling when she recognises the photograph. When Mrs. Birling enters, she tries to ‘build up a kind of wall’ between them and Eva Smith, on account of their difference in class. Sheila has learnt the error of her ways and therefore tries to make her mother do the same, and by doing this she gains the respect of the Inspector. This shows the audience that J.B Priestley has sympathy for the members of the family who learn from their mistakes and do not remain so arrogant that they refuse to share any of the blame.
Gerald Croft reacts to the questioning in the same way as his fiancée. His ‘easy manner’ is disrupted by the Inspector and by the realisation that his part in Eva Smith’s life made her commit suicide. The Inspector manages to break through Gerald’s pretension and finds the truth that lies underneath, and by doing so he changes Gerald’s outlook on life. This is because the younger ones are ‘more impressionable’ than the older members of the family. Priestley used Sheila and Gerald to demonstrate to the audience the way in which he wanted society to change, and he used Mr. and Mrs. Birling as a device to illustrate the higher-class citizens who were preventing these changes from occurring. At the end of Gerald Croft’s interview with the Inspector his and Sheila’s relationship changes, because they weren’t ‘the same people who sat down to dinner’. Throughout the course of the evening the Inspector has managed to make them mature far more than they could have done whilst wrapped up in their parent’s pretences, and this represents Priestley’s aim for society.
Mrs. Birling ‘used her influence’ to do something Sheila considers ‘cruel and vile’ but still refuses to share any feelings of guilt. Priestley has used her stubborn character to portray how arrogant the upper class really are, and he wants the audience to dislike Mrs. Birling’s attitude and as a result alter their own outlook on life, to prevent themselves from becoming as ignorant as her.
Eric is the character affected the most by Inspector Goole’s questioning. He is almost hysterical by the end of the evening, especially as he is the last to be questioned and the tension is at its peak. Even Mr. Birling calls his son a ‘hysterical young fool’ when Eric transfers his own guilt and anger onto his mother by saying that she is to blame for Eva Smith’s suicide. This is the point where the Inspector ‘takes charge, masterfully’ and issues his final judgement. ‘This girl killed herself- and died a horrible death. But each of you helped to kill her. Remember that. Never forget it.’ Priestley has used short, sharp sentences here to make a deeper impact on the audience and the characters alike. This language device portrays Priestley’s aim for society, and how he wants them to remember the lesson they have learned and use it to change society.
Priestley uses the Inspector as a device for representing his strong moral view. He is an incorruptible force of good. The Inspector’s role in the play is to make the Birlings realise how their attitude to the working class has ruined the life of Eva Smith, and if they do not change it then ‘there are millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths’ that could end up just like her, as a result of the upper classes’ ruthless ignorance. The Inspector’s view of the family and therefore society is parallel with Priestley’s own attitude. He believes that ‘we are all members of one body’ and are ‘responsible for each other’. Priestley’s soul aim for ‘An Inspector Calls’ is for society to learn this lesson, and if they do not then they will be taught it in ‘fire and blood and anguish’. Although the action and time span of the play is realistic, the reasoning behind the play is symbolic. This is why Priestley has included such a vast amount of dramatic devices to convey the moral behind the characters. Whilst some members of the audience may overlook some of the deep, symbolic meanings behind each character and their actions, there are others that will learn from the Birling’s mistakes, therefore teaching the rest of society.
J.B Priestley throws in two twists at the end of the play. Firstly, two interpretations of who the Inspector really was are given. The initial interpretation is that he is a trickster determined to make fools of the Birling family, and the second is that he is some sort of avenging spirit, come to make them see the evil of their ways. It is interesting to see how the older members of the family take the first, whilst their children take the latter. Priestley does this to illustrate how the younger generation are the key to the future, if any changes are to be made.
The second twist is the time-release mechanism when the telephone call interrupts and takes them back to relive events. Here Priestley has used Ouspensky’s theory of the fifth dimension, which is the fourth dimension, time, in infinite repetition. Priestley has used this cyclical structure to show that if they fail to learn from their experiences the Inspector will keep returning until they do, and his threat of ‘fire and blood and anguish’ will become their reality.
J.B Priestley’s techniques were successful in conveying his attitude to society at that time, because every single member of the audience will learn something from the play. This means that Priestley’s purpose for ‘An Inspector Calls’ was achieved, because he wanted to educate society of the unfair social standings and how something must be done to alter them. Cleverly entwining various dramatic devices with character dialogue, J.B Priestley has ensured that ‘An Inspector Calls’ is a play that can be used to change society.
