What Is The Purpose Of The Inspector’s Visit, And How Successfully Does He Achieve It?
AN INSPECTOR CALLS
BY
J.B. PRIESTLEY
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE INSPECTOR'S VISIT, AND HOW SUCCESSFULLY DOES HE ACHIEVE IT?
Who is this Inspector? 'Goole. G. Double O-L-E.' (Pg 16) This quote only gives part of a very large mysterious puzzle as to who this stranger is. But what does this quote mean? What does the play mean? What is the meaning of life?
WHO IS THE INSPECTOR?
Lets us start at the beginning. Who is the Inspector? We are told by the 'illusionary' Inspector himself that he is a police Inspector, named Goole. But as we find out on pg62, 'That man wasn't a police officer.' So who was he? His name gives us one baffling clue in the effort to unscramble the mystery in the whodunit, or who/what/where/whydunit.
His name, GOOLE, when pronounced actually sounds like GHOUL; as in ghost, and can give us one lead as to the fact to the idea that he might be a ghost. Perhaps he is a ghost of Eva's unborn child, or perhaps he is the child from the future. We certainly can gather evidence as to the proof that the Inspector is some kind of ghost, phantom or spectre.
(Pg48-stage direction) 'He looks at his watch.' This is evidence that can verify the claim that the Inspector is some kind of ghost. It is the intimidating way in which the Inspector glances at his watch before an important event happens, that also indicates his spirit ways. In this case when the inebriated Eric returns to the gathering of penitent people. The looking at the watch signifies that he knows the future and the way in which people will react to his questioning.
Another way in which his wraithlike element is portrayed is the fact that the Inspector leaves before any questions are asked about who he really is. (Pg56, stage directions) 'He (the Inspector) walks straight out leaving them staring, subdued, and wondering.' As he leaves he knows what the touched household are saying, but I feel that he does not know the final outcome of his visit. I think that is one of the reasons that the Inspector did come is part personal. But I will concentrate more on these factors later on.
Another contributor to the phantom case is the precise moment in which the Inspector enters the play. (Pg9) 'But what so many of you don't seem to understand now, when things are so much easier, is that a man has to make his own way - has to look after himself' The basic message of the play is take care of one another. (That in more detail later.) But what is Birling saying? Look after yourself. The entire message that the Inspector is trying to get across is being thoroughly contradicted by Birling! This shows that the message that the Inspector has brought with him is needed in today's society.
In the 1954 film version, of 'AN INSPECTOR CALLS' the director emphasizes the eeriness of the super-natural side of the Inspector. At the end the Inspector 'disappears' out of a room with only one route of exit, which is a door. We see that the Inspector does not exit by the door, but when Mr Birling goes to question the Inspector, all he sees is an empty rocking chair, gently rocking. This indicates that the Inspector must have been sitting in it very recently, as in a second ago. But the Inspector is nowhere to be seen. He has vanished just as a ghost would, to most likely where he came from, the future. Perhaps this is supposed to portray the Inspector returning to the future to see if society has changed.
I feel that we have gathered enough information to assume that the Inspector is most likely to be a ghost. If we can assume this, he is most likely to be the son of Eva Smith. This would mean that the Birling household are infact his family. Mr Birling would be his grandfather, Eric his father, Sheila his aunt and so on.
But why is a man that the Birlings have never seen before in their lives, delving deep into their most hidden secrets, and asking so many questions? We know that the Inspector is not a real Police Inspector. Conceivably, these questions are a front for the real purpose of this visit.
WHAT IS THE MESSAGE AND PURPOSE?
I have already mentioned a small amount concerning the purpose and message of the Inspector's visit. But there is more to this than meets the eye.
The Inspector in reality us the voice of 'An Inspector Calls,' J.B. Priestley. J.B. Priestley was born in 1894, and served in the Infantry in World War I. He died in 1984 at the age of eighty-nine. During his lifetime he had seen many many sad, terrible and horrific events. The terrible conditions that the poor lived in, millions of people dying in two ...
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WHAT IS THE MESSAGE AND PURPOSE?
I have already mentioned a small amount concerning the purpose and message of the Inspector's visit. But there is more to this than meets the eye.
The Inspector in reality us the voice of 'An Inspector Calls,' J.B. Priestley. J.B. Priestley was born in 1894, and served in the Infantry in World War I. He died in 1984 at the age of eighty-nine. During his lifetime he had seen many many sad, terrible and horrific events. The terrible conditions that the poor lived in, millions of people dying in two world wars; he saw the sinking of the Titanic, strikes, unemployment and many more terrible things. All of these influenced him when writing 'An Inspector Calls.' He mainly puts the attitude of the nation into the characters of Mrs Birling, Mr Birling and Gerald. J.B. Priestley mainly puts his views into the mouth of the Inspector. I think that Eric and Sheila represent how the younger generations can change their views, and understand the workings of the modem world. I think that they also represent change on the whole, and the 'modernising' of the world.
On page 56 is the speech that is the play. 'But just remember this. One Eva Smith has gone -but there are millions and 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 he taught it in fire and blood and anguish. Good night.'
At the beginning of this speech, the Inspector talks about there being 'millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths still left with us...' The names Eva Smith and John Smith represent all the people in the country. The rich and the poor have the names Eva, John and Smith. Smith is the most common name in the country. And Eva? Well that represents the biblical first woman on the earth, Eve. This name also suggests naivety.
The next part of the speech; '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,' signifies the power the rich hold over the poor. All of Eva's life was controlled by people who had more power than she did; people who were of a higher class than she was.
Firstly, Birling sacked her from her job, then Sheila had Eva sacked from her next job, but then Gerald 'dumped' her because he knew the affair could not go on. Next, Eric had an affair with her, and got her pregnant, and to top it off, Mrs Birling influenced the members of the charity, and had her rejected. This part of the speech is another piece in the puzzle of the meaning of the play. This stands for how society should change so the class divide is not so large, practically non-existent.
The time at which the Inspector comes is a good time in all the characters' lives. Birling is going to get a knighthood, Sheila is getting married to Gerald, Eric is growing up, and Mrs Birling is the woman about town. The entire household is celebrating the engagement of Gerald and Sheila. It is not unusual that the 'Inspector called' at a time in their lives when all was happy, and when they had not a care in the world. This also gets the message across of the importance of the Inspector's message.
Throughout the play, Birling is continually trying to work his way up the 'class ladder.' He started off being of lower middle class, but was then promoted because he married someone of a higher class. Now, he is getting his daughter, who was lower higher class into a middle-higher class family. So that pulls him up a rank or two. At the beginning of the play, Gerald and Birling were having a man-to-man heart about how they were a well-behaved family, and how they should remain well behaved. This is so that Birling can get his knight-hood. (Pg8) 'You seem a nice well-behaved family.' The one and only thing that Birling is worried about throughout the entire play is whether there is going to be a scandal. (Pg57) 'Yes, and you don't realize yet all you've done. Most of this is bound to come out. There'll be a public scandal.' (Pg45) 'I must say, Sybil that when this comes out in the inquest, it isn't going to do us much good.' He is always concerned about other people think about him.
Again, (pg57) 'I was almost certain for a knighthood in the next Honours List-' the self-absorbed Birling is caring only of what other people think of him.
This is another reason why the 'Inspector called.' To teach Birling about really he shouldn't care about what other people think of him.
Back onto the Inspector's speech on page 56. 'We don't live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other.' John Donne, an English poet and prose writer who was born in 1572 wrote a simple poem, which explains part of J.B Priestley's message. It is ironic how an author in 1946 is still trying to get a message across, that was being sent out three hundred and twenty years ago! The words of John Donne are, 'No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know...' This means that we most care for each other, in Biblical terms; we are all related, brothers and sisters in the eyes of the Lord.
In the last part of the play, 'And I tell you that the time will soon come when, if men will not learn that lesson, then they will he taught it in fire and blood and anguish. Good night.' the meat and bones of it all. This is the end of the line. We as a society have to make a change now, or we can never change the attitudes of the world. The world is currently in a time of great change. The change is greatly mechanical, but the change also needs to be human. We have to change or the world will be divided, and destroyed. It will be destroyed through class divide and through not thinking about others, and not communicating to and with others. It's also about saying our true feelings - we tend to hide them. We must let other people know who we really are; otherwise the human race will become morally extinct.
I think that the last reason that the Inspector came to the Birling household is for a personal reason. If indeed, Eva Smith was his mother and Eva Smith did die, it would affect his life too. If the message got through, then society would be different in the (might well be different in the) future. This would indicate that the positive messages from his visit would be spread by mouth or on paper around Brumley, and then further out, over England, Europe then all over the world. The attitude of society would hopefully change for the good. As I have already said, the Inspector is really the voice of the author, J.B Priestley, and the speech on page56 is a speech from the heart of J.B Priestley.
In the west end production of 'An Inspector Calls', the director especially shows the class difference between both Mr & Mrs Birling and Gerald: and Sheila and Eric; and them all in comparison to the Inspector. This is because the house is set above the street. Every time the Inspector talks to one of the characters, they have to come out of the house, down the stairs and onto the street level where the Inspector is standing. As well as emphasising the class difference, the director shows the power the Inspector has over the family. The family comes down to his level, he does not go up to theirs.
To recapitulate, the purpose of the Inspector's visit is to change the morals and ideas of the Birling household, but most importantly to readers of the play. His message? To care for each other, and to communicate and be truthful with each other.
HOW SUCCESSFULLY DOES THE INSPECTOR ACHIEVE HIS PURPOSED WITH THE CHARACTERS?
Let us start with the main character, Birling. Having been brought up in a middle-class family, Birling did well with his business and married a prominent woman. Having not started life in the higher class, it is unusual that the Inspector had no affect on the life of Mr Birling. You would probably think that Mr Birling would care for the less fortunate more than he does. But Birling is just a conceited man whose only concern is of himself. That, and of course power money and being of the upper class!
But perhaps him not always being of the upper class, is the reason the Inspector's message does not have a lasting effect on him. He has always been concerned by what people think of him. Being a man in his early fifties (as we can see by the stage directions at the very beginning of the play (pg 1)'BIRLING is a heavy-looking, rather portentous man in his middle fifties with fairly easy but rather portentous in his speech.') Birling is considered to be a man whose mind cannot easily be changed. Birling considers himself as a man who has experience in life. We can see this on page 9. 'Yes, but you've got to remember my boy, that clothes mean something different to a women. Not just something to wear - and not only something to make 'em look prettier - but - well, a sort of sign of token of self-respect'
The only reason that Birling shows any care for Eva is when there is prospect of a scandal. Birling offers money as a half-hearted sign of care, (pg56) 'Look, Inspector, - I'd give thousands - yes, thousands-.' But the Inspector wisely says that he's (Pg 56) 'Offering money at the wrong time.' But in some way this is not caring, just the self-absorbed Birling trying to appear caring, and to get out of a scandal. He's trying to buy his way out of it.
But after the Inspector leaves the group, and they discover it's all an apparent hoax, Birling forgets all his sorrows, and is most relieved that they won't be a scandal. When he discovers this he says, (pg70) 'The whole story's just a lot of moonshine. Nothing but an elaborate sell! (He produces a big sigh of relief) Nobody likes to be sold as badly as that - but - for all that - (lie smiles at them all) Gerald, have a drink.' He just forgets that his actions were still wrong.
There are, however, some people to whom the Inspector's message has gone through to. Birling constantly goes on at these people, and perhaps because they are these people, the message got through. Let me explain. (In English!)
Birling goes on and on about how the younger generation know nothing, and how they should listen to their elders more. But because Sheila and Eric are the younger generation, their views are more open. They respect their elders, but do not agree with them. Because the world is so full of change, and the 'younger generations are in the middle of it, they are more susceptible to change.
Throughout the play, Sheila recognizes her wrong doings, and constantly apologises and notices the ghostly aspects of the Inspector. We can see her part understanding of the Inspector on pg58. When Eric tells us that it just as Mr Birling was taking about caring for oneself, Sheila notices something. (Pg 58) 'SHEILA (sharply attentive,) is that when the Inspector said that? ERIC Yes, what of it? MRS B: Now what's the matter Sheila? SHEILA: (slowly) It's queer - very queer..' ' She starts off the question of who the Inspector was.
Towards the end of the play, when the Birling's realise that there is and never was an 'Inspector Goole' or suicide of a young lady, Birling, Mrs Birling and Gerald laugh off their actions.
It is Sheila who perseveres in trying to get the message across that they still did wrong. I feel that she understands the purpose of the Inspector's visit, and I feel in the future, she will try through actions and words to change her ways.
She continues to try and influence the older generation, but at a loss. (pg71) 'You're pretending everything's just as it was before.'...'You're ready to go on the same old way.'
Both Sheila and Eric have grown up in this short period of time. Not so much physically but mentally. You could say that in this time the 'older generation's' scope has become smaller, whereas 'the younger generation's' scope has opened whole new doors of opportunity.
Eric has definitely learnt his lesson, and will stop his drinking habit. (Pg 71) 'And I agree with Sheila.' An obvious quote as to his feelings. We can find an extract in which Eric says his thoughts. (Pg7 1) 'Whoever that chap was, the fact remains that I did what I did. And mother did what she did. And the rest of you did what you did to her. It's the same rotten story whether it's been told to a police Inspector or to somebody else.'
Although Gerald is probably only five or ten years older than Sheila, he belongs to the 'older generation~ group. At one point you feel that he is on the verge of understanding his morals. (pgl0) 'Yes, I know what you mean. But I'm coming back - if I may' And Sheila has said how she respects him. But when the congregated group discovers that there was no Eva Smith, Gerald just laughs it of with 'the rest of the group.' When Birling is celebrating that he and his family are 'scandleless' he shows no consideration for his wrong doings. Gerald joins him in this celebration. (Pg70) 'The whole story's just a lot of moonshine. Nothing but an elaborate sell! (He produces a big sigh of relief) Nobody likes to be sold as badly as that - but - for all that - (he smiles at them all,) Gerald, have a drink.'
Mrs Birling remains so quiet half the time; so unnervingly silent! Mrs Birling spends most of her time silently observing the crowd. She seems quite intelligent thinking deeply how the consequences of her family around her will affect her social life!
Mrs Birling first comes into our wider imagination as a charitable woman who helps others. But maybe it is she who needs the charity. She too thinks about how class is important in her life, and how material values are more important than love etc. She portrays the image of a very lonely woman who needs to be brought back down to earth. With this image, and in reality, Mrs Birling is incapable of understanding the message and purpose. Perhaps the fact that she was brought up as an upper person, and never understood life of another class, adds to why she can't comprehend these factors.
So the final out come of the Inspector's visit was half positive, half negative. But perhaps the positive half can 'spread the word' about how society should change.
CONCLUSION
There are so many reasons as to 'who what where and why' the Inspector was. But this play is not about a pompous family and an innocent engagement. This play is about life. Life is so big; we could not possibly understand it all. It would go on for infinity.
But the morals of the Inspector/J.B.Priestley have taught our society to be truthful, caring, and, to treat each other with the respect that every human being deserves. WE DO NOT LIVE ALONE.
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