Examine the role of the Inspector in J.B Priestley's play 'An Inspector Calls'

The Inspector creates a split between the family by dividing the younger and older generations. He is a catalyst because he divides the family and makes them angry at each other. Gerald and Sheila will not get married because of the inspector's visit. Birling may not get his knighthood because of the visit from the inspector may cause a scandal. All these things are the effects of the Inspector's visit. All Priestley is trying to do is make everyone take responsibility for their actions, for example what he is doing to the Birlings. By doing this the audience may feel like they need to do the same thing but not act like the older generation of the Birlings but act like the younger generation.

Near the end of the play the inspector is thought to be a fraud. The Birlings have various reasons to believe this. There was no information about him and he did not tell us anything about himself when he introduces him self. He is unknown in the force as the policeman Gerald asked said there was no such inspector. Also Birling is very familiar with the county police force and he said he had never seen or heard of an Inspector under the name Goole.. Near the end of the play it is discovered that there is no inspector named Goole and he has never been seen on the police force. For example '...I met a sergeant I know... He swore there wasn't any inspector Goole or anybody like him on the force here,' said Gerald. This is proof there is no Inspector Goole and he really could be a fraud. Also there’s is more proof because no other inspector works like him but it definitely is very effective as he left the Birling family in shambles.

The Inspector is considered a fraud. Gerald is the first to question if the inspector really is an Inspector. He goes on to say that the inspector did may not have shown all of us the same picture as he showed everyone a picture one by one so there is no evidence that he could have showed each of them all different pictures let alone the real Eva Smith. They all may have seen different photos. He then goes on to say that there was no evidence to prove that there really was a young girl called Eva Smith that had died. This is Gerald's view of how the inspector works and how it makes him a fraud. The inspector also tells us how and why he works. 'It's the way I like to work. One person and one line of inquiry at a time. Otherwise, there's a muddle.' This shows us how the Inspector explains how he works and why. This sounds like the real way an inspector should work which misleads us at the beginning of the play and makes us think he really is an inspector. This makes the story effective and dramatic because it all leads to a huge twist at the end when we find out the inspector does not really exist and there is no dead girl called Eva Smith however there is another twist at the end when they really do find out an Eva Smith had really died and an inspector is on his way over. This makes the story more interesting and more dramatic and it adds more suspense to the play.

The inspector is used in the story as someone who is supposed to be like J.B Priestley. He is like a substitute for J.B Priestly and they are linked as the inspector is being used to put across his messages. The inspector is in the story to make the Birling's have responsibility for their actions. He is trying to make people think about what they do before they do it. "Look before you leap" as the saying goes. The inspector is trying to say that people should all be treated equally. All these messages are aimed at the audience as well as the Birlings. This is how Priestley gets his points out to us, through the link between him and the inspector. I think his main messages are that we are all part of one community, not individual people but we are connected one way or another so we have to care for each other and look after each other. For example '....We are responsible for each other,' said the inspector. This shows us the inspector has socialist views and does care about others apart from himself.

Priestley puts across message of capitalism versus socialism as he shows the Inspector, the socialist saying how we should not be like a capitalist but more like a socialist and care for one another. The inspector is a socialist as is Priestley and they have socialist views. They are against capitalism, as they do not feel you should just earn a living for money and for yourself but you should help other people.

The inspector's name is a pun for ghoul. This then leads us to believe that the inspector does not exist. He is some sort of ghost or phantom who is a nightmare to the Birlings. The Birlings have other beliefs that prove the inspector does not exist like Gerald. He finds out from another police sergeant from the county force that there is no one like or called the inspector they had met. In addition, the older generation seem to think it is all a hoax. For example 'It's a hoax of some kind,' said Gerald. This shows that the older generation thinks it is some old fool playing a trick on them causing a scandal. There is nothing wrong with them believing this as they now have evidence that the inspector really is not an inspector but a fraud but that is only if he really does exist which is unknown to everyone. It could also show that the inspector is a bad ghoul playing tricks on family to have fun. He seems to know about he future because he knows what will happen to Eva Smith that no one else knows about, which may give the audience an idea that he is not a human being. He is another type of life such as a spirit that does not exist in our world, as it is virtually impossible to predict the future. He does make the Birlings scared of him as he breaks them down one by one leading them to confess. This may also show why he is a ghoul because he is scary. The inspector being a ghoul makes the audience more interested in the story because there is no obvious thing at the beginning of the story that gives him away but we all have our suspicions and this leads to tension as we want to continue to view the play to find out whether our suspicions were correct or not. This is another aspect that makes the play so good and again it involves the truth hidden behind the inspector.

The inspector had an enormous affect on the Birlings. He caused them to fall out with each other and go against each other. From all what he told them the only people that actually learnt their lesson was the younger generation. The elders did not as when they found out the inspector was a fraud they were celebrating so what the inspector said went through one ear out the other. I think the family could get back to how they were before but it would be on Sheila and Eric's conscience that they once helped lead a girl to suicide. Priestleys over all message in this story was we are all part of one community and we have to look after each other rather than just looking out for ourselves. If one person is affected in the community than all of us are. That is what Priestleys over all message is. I believe the over all role of the inspector was to play a substitute of Priestley to get Priestleys messages across to the audience and the Birlings. The Inspector has many hidden messages in him. He plays so many different roles and the he himself makes the whole story. He makes you think and puts across the messages, which to me is the point of the book. He is very effective and adds a great deal of drama

In this Play the inspector seems to be playing various roles. He seems as though he is playing a socialist as he is against capitalist views and because he is not just looking out for himself but others as well. Also he is known to be a catalyst as he brings a split in the Birling family. He plays a ghost as we find out he is not real. Additionally he plays a fraud because he is not a real inspector, but he does act as an Inspector. The inspector adds a great deal of tension and drama to the play. Priestley does this because he brings tension between the younger generation consisting of Sheila and Eric and the older generation consisting of Gerald, Mrs Birling and Birling because of the inspector. Priestley uses the inspector as a substitute of him self to put his socialist points across this adds drama because we have to think about what he is trying to do.