How does Priestley use Inspector Goole to put across his views about the world he lived in?
The play is set at the turn of the century and is centred on a wealthy family who are successful and prosperous at a time of poverty for many. They are oblivious to this, and given the fact that the play was written many years later the play contains much irony about the future, but not only does it make it question our history but also our future.
The inspector is portrayed as being the champion of socialism, he is there to symbolise Priestley’s views. Essentially Priestley uses biased representations of capitalism, and socialism, reflected with Birling, and inspector Goole, to prepare the reader for his conclusive message. Priestley conveys this message of responsibility towards others in many ways throughout the play. He also criticises his views on the society at the time by using each of the other characters as dramatic devices to, symbolically, convey his message.
Priestley was writing in 1945, while the play was set in 1912 even before the war. Priestley introduces the play right after the world war hence reminding the readers and viewers of the situations before the war. He compares these social situations of 1912 with 1945. His message contrasts these two periods of time with the help of inspector Goole. During 1912 there were a lot of differentiation between the upper and lower class, and very few belonged in between. He uses the inspector indirectly to point out the serious flaws in society which allowed disadvantaged Eva Smith to exist alongside the privileged Birlings. Due to the war the class society had been nearly wiped out. During 1912 almost every lower class family lived in houses rented from private landlords, very few had their own houses. Arthur Birling is shown in 1912 predicting that there will be no war, “I say there will be no war”, and this prediction was obviously wrong. This technique was used so that Priestley can again give comparisons between the two time periods. In 1945 Priestley tries to make the unaware percentage of people aware of the cruel society that existed in 1912. He shows that the war mixed people up, it broke down the class and occupational barriers that existed before and that a value was given to all men and women, therefore, in that sense there was equality.
In the play the inspector is portrayed as an enigmatic figure, never revealing his true identity. His dramatic power lies in this, where revealing his identity would consequently affect the tension and suspense that is built up as the story progresses. To do this effectively, Priestley leaves several interpretations on the identity of the inspector. He also uses distinctive and powerful stage directions for the inspector which conveys impressions of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness: ‘(coolly looking hard at him)’and ‘(gravely)’. The inspector’s speech is very carefully written, speaking only when required, and in a sense letting the other characters confess the story without needing for the inspector to talk much. The inspector seems to know the facts already and wishes to make the other characters realise what they have done. He seems to be single minded in pursuit of his chosen line of investigation, and nobody tries to challenge his version of the story while he is present. This is because of the way in which he is portrayed; he seems to be the most powerful: ‘I warn you, you’re making it worse for yourself’ this comment made by the inspector shows that he already knows what will happen. This then elevates the idea of him being a time traveller as he also says: ‘And you think young women should be protected against unpleasant and disturbing things?’ advising the Birlings, this could possibly be a message that Priestley shows relating to 1945. There are other possibilities of who he could have been; he could have been a representation of Jesus, who had returned as he promised. He wanted show that there are still evils in the world and was using the Birling family as his example. A more likely religious figure he could be would be a Catholic Priest as Priestley was a religious man and this would also tie in with his name. The Inspector uses religious language in his final speech, "their lives, their hopes and fears, their suffering…"Another suggestion of who the man who the Inspector could have been a journalist who had some information on them and wanted to strike lucky and scoop a story. This could be possible because he acts very much like a journalist in his direct approach but also because the Birling's tell him everything, this could show that he didn't know everything he said he did but just wanted to piece bits of information to her to make a story. Another possible suggestion, of who the Inspector really was, is a social leader trying to gain support for his cause and equality for everyone, however rich or poor. This does have some truth in it as he is telling the rich Birlings’ that the way they treated Eva Smith (or up to five girls) was bad, they did however give her money but they kicked her out of jobs and made her pregnant and made her feel desperate. This social activist or campaigner is like Martin Luther King, trying to earn equality not just for his part of society but for all. This message is important and if the audience realizes this then they are shown what inequality can do to a poor, innocent young girl. A final guess as to who the Inspector could be in his name. His name - Goole - sounds very much like 'ghoul'. Ghouls or ghosts are considered to be shadowy, invisible figures that come and go. The Inspector has turned up out of nowhere to tell the Birling family something special and has then disappeared again. This would not have any relation to realism and the audiences are unlikely to understand what a ghost has to do with the play whether they were the audiences of the 1940s or the current time. The play does have some surreal points it, for example how did the Inspector know that, "two hours ago a young girl dies in the Infirmary" when she hadn't actually died yet? This is an example of the play being both realistic but also pushing the boundaries of realism to make a social point to those viewing.
