Explore and explain the numerous different ways in which the Inspector affects the characters and achieves his goal.

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“An Inspector Calls”

During this essay, I am going to explore and explain the numerous different ways in which the Inspector affects the characters and achieves his goal; to help the Birling family realise everything is not all as it seems and that beneath the veneer of respectability, lay hidden, untold secrets and scandals.

The play begins with stage directions. They describe the Birling household, but also set the tone for the entire play:

        “substantial and heavily comfortable, but not cosy and homelike.”

        Right from the beginning, we the audience are given a glimpse of not only the Birlings’ home, but also their lifestyle. On the surface, their home is well decorated with beautiful furniture, pleasing to the eye, but it is obvious that there are hidden secrets. Below the respectable surface that is represented by the furniture, everyone in the family has something to hide; a dark past that they are ashamed of and under normal circumstances, would not dare reveal, but due to one man’s visit and his persistent interrogation, each and every character will learn new things about each other. The fact that there is absolutely no love amongst the family is evident right from the beginning with the description of the house, and the Inspector exposes that, not for himself, but to teach all the characters things they did not know.

        The stage directions also show an aura of smugness and self-satisfaction amongst the Birlings:

        “celebrating a special occasion and are pleased with themselves.”

        The opening of the play suggests strongly that the Birlings are very happy with life and more importantly, themselves. At present, nothing could be said or done, that would put a dampener on their spirits.

        Not only the stage directions, but also once the opening scene has begun implies that the family are happy, with many references to such actions as ‘laughing’ and ‘smiling’. Everyone on stage is at, or approaching, their happiest moment throughout the entire play, all until the Inspector arrives. His arrival punctures the idea of happiness and makes it no more than a distant memory, which sums up his role. His duty is to take and destroy the smug atmosphere and turn it against each and every character because it is not genuine. All the happiness and joy is based on a veneer of respectability and all it takes is for the Inspector to scratch away at the surface, which is represented by the furniture and other such materialistic items and reveal what lies beneath; deceit, lies, scandals.

        When the Inspector arrives, the family, especially Sheila, are at the happiest:

        “I’ll never let it go out of my sight for an instant.”

        This statement will turn out to be extremely ironic as soon after, she gives the ring back to Gerald. This emphasises the immediate impact that the Inspector has upon the family and will continue to have throughout the play until he departs. If he had not called, Sheila would have continued to go on, living her life with an unsuspecting ignorance of Gerald’s secrets. Not only does the Inspector expose Gerald to his fiancée, but he also drives an emotional wedge between the two.

        As the play commences, Arthur Birling begins to deliver a long, drawn out speech about how the World is and will become. The purpose of this specific moment is for Mr. Birling to act as a spokesman for national attitudes and opinions at the time in Britain(1912). He is reflecting the basic mood of the period that; Britain is so strong, yet untouched and will remain unchallenged and unthreatened. By all of this, Priestley is telling the audience that Birling speaks out for the entire nation with his complacency.

        Possibly one of Birling’s most naïve comments comes during this speech:

        “In twenty or thirty years’ time – lets say, in 1940 – you may be giving a         little party like this.”

        The reference to the year 1940 is extremely significant because Birling is prophesying that the whole World will be good, with Britain sitting pretty at the top as the strongest nation, but in fact it turned out to be our country’s darkest time ever; we were alone in WWII. To a 21st century audience, this particular comment would go unnoticed, but at the time the play was first performed in 1945, the audience would fully understand the implications of this comment because they would have lived through the War, witnessing the downfall of the British Empire between 1912 – when the play was set – and 1945 – when the play was written and first performed. Priestley has not used this whole section of the play for no reason; its purpose is to convey Priestley’s views about him hating the complacent, arrogant, superior attitude of many people in Britain in 1912.

        During the height of Birling’s arrogance, he still has another point to put across. This time though, it is far more significant to the plot, summing up both his and his family’s whole lifestyle:

        “the Tiatanic – she sails next week – forty-six thousand eight hundred         tones – forty-six thousand eight hundred tons – New York in fives days -          and every luxury – and unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable.”

        Not only does this turn out to be a complete contradictory assumption of what actually did happen, it also represents Arthur Birling and his family. The Titanic was unsinkable until it hit the iceberg, just as the Birlings are. At the moment they are all very happy, enjoying their own little party, pleased with themselves, Birling awaiting a Knighthood and nothing could possibly burst this bubble… or so they thought. The Inspector does the complete opposite of what they ever thought could happen on this night. Just as the Titanic represents the family, the iceberg represents both the Inspector and Eva Smith because they both spoil the fun and excitement of being happy and smug with yourself, which is how the Birlings and the Titanic most probably felt.

        Before the Inspector actually arrives though, Birling is continuing his dominance by making comments and assumptions that will eventually come back to haunt him:

        “a man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own.”

        Once again, this is Priestley’s way of putting his point across that the current attitude of most people in Britain at the time, was one of arrogance and complacency and that these people will soon realise that they were extremely wrong. This particular moment is also significant because it is the exact moment of the Inspector’s arrival:

        “We hear a sharp ring of a front door bell.”

        The Inspector disrupts Arthur Birling at the very pinnacle of his arrogance, but the emphasis here is on, ‘sharp’. It is an effective stage direction because it abruptly stops Birling in his tracks as he is delivering his philosophy to not only Eric and Gerald, but also the audience who by now, are becoming increasingly tired of listening to him, so it also comes as a pleasant surprise for the audience too.

        The Inspector’s opening actions upon stage signal the effect that he will have throughout the whole play:

        “disconcerting”

        At this point, the Inspector has only just entered, but immediately causes a disconcerting atmosphere and is obviously not intimidated by the family and their materialistic furniture. He is clear and concise and gives a feeling of immense importance right from the outset.

        When the Inspector first delivers the news about Eva Smith, only Eric reacts in the manner you would expect:

        “My God!”

        Not only his words, but also the tone of voice he uses, convey his genuine upset at the news although he does not know the young girl. Initially, it is not recognisable that Eric was so shocked, but when compared to his father’s reaction it becomes obvious:

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        “Yes, yes. Horrid business, but I don’t understand why you should come here,”

        This completely typifies Birling’s whole attitude that people should look out for themselves only, showing in the process, that compared to Eric – his son, he is a very callous man and that he will continue to follow his personal philosophy on life of self-centredness and arrogance.

        As the play progresses, the Inspector gets down to what he has paid the family a visit for. He shows Birling a photograph of this girl, Eva Smith, but interestingly, he does not let the others see it. At first, ...

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