Inspector Goole arrives to question the family about a girl called Eva Smith, (also known as Daisy Renton) who committed suicide by drinking strong disinfectant. The inspector questions the family one-by-one. This sustains the audiences interest through a desire to find out ultimately who was responsible for Eva Smith’s death. The inspector’s entry is timed with Birling saying:
“…a man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own.”
This highlights the capitalist thinking of Mr. Birling and the audience is primed for the main action of the play, the presence of the inspector is to contradict their views, and the audience gets an idea that he is opposed to Birling’s comment.
‘The inspector immediately creates a sense of massiveness, purposefulness and solidity. He is a mysterious person and an enigmatic figure who remains solid throughout the play.’ He shows signs of omniscience because he seems to know all the events taken place in Eva’s life. When Mr. Birling says:
“Let me see- it must have been in the early autumn of nineteen-ten.”
The Inspector replies:
“End of September nineteen-ten.”
He knows exactly when Birling sacked Eva and is therefore one step ahead of them. This creates a conjuring effect as his name- Goole is an obvious pun on ‘Ghoul’ which could explain his knowledge about Eva. Ghoul is a spirit believed to take life from fresh corpses. ‘Goole’ is also a fishing port which could suggest that he is going to fish for information.
The Inspector tries to make the Birling’s realise that they are part of a chain of events. He says:
“Because what happened to her then may have determined what happened to her afterwards, and what happened to her afterwards may have driven her to suicide. A chain of events.”
The inspector already knows they are linked to events. He makes another quote about views on society, he says:
“Public men, Mr. Birling, have responsibilities as well as privileges.”
This quote shows a moralistic view towards society which represents Priestley’s views that ‘we should all look after each other.’ These quotes have a great impact on the post-war audiences of 1945.
When showing the picture of Eva Smith/Daisy Renton to each of the characters Inspector Goole made sure that only one person looked at the picture at a time. He did this by placing himself between the character involved and the other characters. By using this juxtaposition the inspector builds metaphorical walls between the characters. With these walls surrounding them, the inspector breaks the characters down by making them confess.
In some cases it was recognised, as Sheila says to her mother:
“We all started like that - so confident, so pleased with ourselves until he began asking us questions.”
Sheila has recognised that the inspector is breaking them down and therefore warns the others to be careful about what they say. Sheila says:
“You mustn’t try to build up a kind of wall between us and that girl. If you do then the inspector will just break it down. And it’ll be all the worse when he does.”
Throughout the scenes the inspector is in control as the stage directions show: ‘(massively taking charge) and (cutting in with authority).’ ‘He speaks carefully, weightily and looks hard at the person he addresses, which makes the audience feel that he knows more than he is letting on.’ These actions cause the Birlings to admit to their involvement with Eva Smith. Although Mr. and Mrs. Birling told Inspector Goole their story, they were just worried that it may cause a public scandal; they were not really worried about the girl in question.
As Mr. Birling exclaims:
“Nothing much has happened! Haven’t I already said there’ll be a public scandal- unless we’re lucky- and who here will suffer more than I will?”
Birling is not affected by the consequences of his actions, neither is Mrs. Birling as she says;
“(very distressed now) No -Eric- please- I didn’t know- I didn’t understand.”
She still won’t accept that she’s done anything wrong. Gerald however shows signs of disruption like:
“(Startled) What?” He is distressed having played a part in the demise of Daisy Renton. He says:
“She told me she’d been happier than she’d ever been before- but that she knew it couldn’t last- hadn’t expected it to last. She didn’t blame me at all…”
This is very significant as it’s like he is washing his hands of anything. He carries on saying,
“…I wish to God she had now. Perhaps I’d feel better about it.”
This shows that Gerald never expected anything to come of the relationship. He tries to justify using Eva. Even though she is dead he feels some remorse but is more concerned about his own status and the risk of a scandal. The ‘I’d’ part of this quote is very significant as he is still only thinking of his self.
On the other hand Sheila and Eric feel guilty straight away and they learn a lesson, making Inspector Goole successful with his presence of being there. This means that the inspector is more lenient with them. Eric is the more sympathetic of the characters, he shows a more humanist side, as he says:
“Why shouldn’t they try for the higher wages? We try for the highest possible prices…”
Eric is not ignorant like his father and the inspector treats him more kindly by being less demanding with him.
Priestley has used Inspector Goole as a catalyst in An Inspector Calls. He makes things happen which allows secrets to be revealed. He may not have shown the same picture to all the characters but he makes them realise they are causing misery for some people through their ignorance. Inspector Goole plays the role of carrying Priestley’s message across that ‘we should all look after each other.’ He has demonstrated that people are responsible for how they affect the lives of others; he sees the world as a community where everyone should help each other.
The ending of the play leaves the Birlings and Gerald to face the evening’s events again. The audience is left with a message from Priestley, as Inspector Goole makes his last quote:
“But 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, with what we think and say and do…”
This shows that the audience of post 1945 are to learn a lesson about looking after everyone, even those of lower classes. The inspector carries on, saying:
“…will be taught …in fire and blood and anguish.”
Priestley refers to World War One with this part of the quote. (It is this unreal quality of the inspector’s final prophecy that imbues the inspector with an almost supernatural quality.) It didn’t matter what class you were in during the war anyone could have been bombed or killed. This prophecy is a dramatic device used to leave the audience in thought. “Priestley successfully moves both his play and his audience beyond the bounds of naturalism.”
From this play Priestly has made me understand that we must look after one another and treat each other equally and moderately, no matter who we are or what our status is. We must all consider what we think and say and do to people because we are all human beings living a life together in one world. Some people’s lives are affected by others and if we do not consider one another’s feelings then there will be a lesson for everyone to learn.
