As the inspector enters the scene, he is described on his entrance as creating "an impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness. He is a man in his fifties, dressed in a plain darkish suit... He speaks carefully, weightily, and has a disconcerting habit of looking hard at the person he addresses before actually speaking.” The inspector has a particular way to work, this is the fact that he prefers to work systematically, and he likes to deal with "One Person and one line of enquiry at a time”. His method is to confront a suspect with a piece of information and then make them talk and confess- or, as Sheila puts it, "He's giving us the rope - so that we'll hang ourselves”. He is also a figure of authority. He deals with each member of the family very firmly and several times we see him "massively taking charge” as disputes erupt between them. He is not impressed when he hears about Mr Birling's influential friends and he cuts through Mrs Birling's obstructive-ness. Inspector Goole also seems to know and understand an extraordinary amount; he even knows the history of Eva Smith and the Birling’s involvement. He also is obviously in a great urgency towards the end of the play: he stresses "I haven't much time”. This raises the question of does he know that the genuine inspector is shortly going to arrive? All the mystery in the play suggests many things, one of which is that what the inspector really is he a ghost? I say this because his name, Goole reminds us of 'ghoul'. Could he be the voice of Priestley? Or, is he the voice of our consciences?
The inspector is telling the Birling’s they are on the brink of something terrible while Birling explains how he thinks it will be in twenty or thirty years, 1940, will have no problems whatsoever, however in factual knowledge, they will be in the middle of World War Two, because of this, it makes it seem like the inspector knows a lot more than he should. I believe that Inspector Goole is forthright, powerful and very confrontational; this is because of all the questions he asks, half of them are not even to do with the investigation, it is to do with the business that Mr Birling owns, the reason being that there could be a chain of events causing Smith to commit suicide. The inspector controls many aspects and events in the play as he questions the Birling’s about Eva Smith. As the inspector speaks, he is always stopping before he speaks, concentrating on the person, this seems to be intimidating and makes the questioned person feel very inconceivable and uncomfortable. Whilst the inspector is questioning each member of the Birling family, he is trying to force an answer out of them. He asks the questions linking it slowly, from one person to another in order of the way they knew the girl Eva Smith. As he does this, he reminds every person of the bad they could have done to hurt her, causing her to commit suicide. A normal inspector would inspect the crime scene, he would ask questions relevant to the crime, and not to do with the suspects business, unless, it was to do with his or her business, and it had a large involvement. As the involvement of each of the family becomes clear, and as the Inspector’s apparent omniscience drives each of them to confession, the play reveals its second stylistic model. The morality of the story, as mentioned before is to instruct their audiences about the condition of man, caught between the religious need for goodness and temptations of evil. Throughout the entire play, he tries to get the same point across to everyone, the same point being the fact that we all need to stop the class-wars that is happening; we need to treat each other as equals.
I also think that Inspector Goole also seems nothing like a real inspector because of the way he acts, he is seems to be very calm throughout and has much patience to an extent. Inspector Goole will loose his patience when he knows that something will soon happen, something bad, or even if someone is to arrive home. At one point in the play, he stresses: “I haven’t much time” could this mean he knows that the real inspector could be arriving at any moment? During question, he shows an image of Eva Smith to bring back the memories that they had with her, this affected the way they were all thinking, and it made them think that they were responsible. Again, a casual inspector would not make one think they are the fault of the problem, unless with enough evidence, but, even though Inspector Goole seems to know everything to us, the Birling’s have mixed feelings about him, some members of the family understand him, whereas other members misinterpret him.
As Inspector Goole introduces Eva Smith through a photograph to Gerald, his reaction gives away the fact that he did know Eva, just by a different name. The evidence of this is shown in the Heinemann edition of “An Inspector Call” page 25, “(startled) what?” Gerald says. Gerald tells us he knows a Daisy Renton, but not an Eva Smith, but when he saw the photo, he is startled by it, Eva Smith was Daisy Renton, and it was just a formal name. Because of this result, Sheila, without delay, has her suspicions about Gerald “last summer, when you never came near me”, I believe that this quotation shows that she is not as naïve and as shallow as she first appears. Furthermore, following the next few lines of page 25, Inspector Goole asks Sheila where Mr Birling is; I think that this shows that Mr Birling has a lot more involvement in the situation.
Inspector Goole’s language and his systematic work and personality show a change to the characters personality and thoughts through Act 1. Although Sheila has probably never in her life before considered the conditions of the workers, she shows her compassion immediately she hears of her father's treatment of Eva Smith: "But these girls aren't cheap labour - they're people." Already, she is starting to change just how the Inspector expected her to. She is horrified by her own part in Eva's story. She feels full of guilt for her jealous actions and blames herself as "really responsible", the way she will always be reminded of the situation. The Inspector is reminding them of Eva Smith because he knows that with enough questions and evidence, there is no need for an arrest as such, but they will all admit to the crime that they might have help cause.
The Inspector is also very rude and abrupt with the family showing Mr Birling no sign of respect for his position as ex-mayor. “I was an alderman for years and Lord Mayor two years ago, and I’m still on the bench, so I know the Brumley police officers pretty well”. This quote is showing how Mr Birling is trying his best to tell the Inspector that he is an important person and deserves some respect, but the Inspector shows that he has not much interest with a reply of “quite so”. Inspector Goole also creates a lot of arguments and conflicts between the family, especially between the older and younger generations. He doesn’t seem to apologise about this matter, but he does seem to notice it. A real inspector would apologise for any inconvenience caused and not just for problems which are far too irrelevant.
Concentrating on Act 1, I have many ideas on how to present the Inspector. I believe that by making his entrance to the Birling’s residence stand out, he would have much more effect on the audience also. He is described “need not be a big man but he creates at once an impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness.” If I was to dress him in a long dark jacket, it would make him look slightly mysterious, as well as creating an impression of solidity. This is because back in time, men who were dressed in formal had a lot more power, such as the upper class would be mostly dressed with suitable clothing to state that they are to be respected. So does, Inspector Goole, he is dressed to create an impression. As he enters the house, he need not to ask any questions, to do with Eva Smith, he just needs to ask them in a way where he seems like he doesn’t know anything at all, just like a real inspector. But, by staring into one’s eyes before telling them what he wants, could, like said before, intimidate the questioned, and in this case, Mr Birling.
I think that he should also be average in height and weight also. Before his entrance to the Birling’s residence, if he was to have a black hat covering half his face, he will also seem to have purposefulness and will create an impression of massiveness. As he enters the house, I think that he should not take off his hat until he is offered a seat, or if not at that point, then he should only take off his hat just after he says “Mr Birling?” this will make Mr Birling feel as if he has done something bad also. Because of the inspector’s role, being not so much as an Inspector, I think that he should speak in a good manner. Therefore, when he is judging someone, they will assume it is about the Eva Smith suicide.
Inspector Goole is what I would call not an inspector at all, he is there in the play to judge someone, he is there to make them think twice about their actions, but, he does inspect, he does at occasions ask very relevant questions, but only the ones which will make each character think about their role in the Eva Smith suicide. I believe that Inspector Goole is a spirit of conscience. His name implies the thought that whether or not he is a ghostly ghoul or not, but, to my belief, a ghost will cause the trouble, not make one realise the trouble. The inspector could be the conscience of one of the members of the Birling’s family, they could be dreaming this and help the world change for the good, for peace.
