“A man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own-and”
A ring of the doorbell interrupts him. When the Inspector calls unexpectedly on the prosperous Birling family his startling revelations not only shatter the very foundations of their lives, but also challenge us all to examine our consciences. The timing of the entrance of the inspector is quite a prominent part of the play. Inspector Goole is portrayed as quite a sinister character that is quite persistent about finding out the truth. He believes in quite the opposite to what Mr Birling believes in. He feels every person should help each other as he quotes,
“We are members of one body-We are responsible for each other.”
The inspector interrogates each character in turn, with each of them he makes a point that they have acted selfishly and used Eva Smith the girl involved for their own purposes and they have not thought about the effect they have had on her life. Priestly uses the inspector to show us how hypocritical and arrogant the upper middle class men and women were. The Inspector also brings to our attention the vast differences between the upper middle class men and lower class citizens. The inspector refuses to acknowledge the fact that the Birling family is a middle class, knowing that he is more of a threat to them then they are to him. He hovers over the characters acting much like their conscience, he is described as creating
'An impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness' He speaks carefully and has a disconcerting habit of looking hard at the person he addresses, forcing the truth out of each character in question.”
While the Inspector moves Arthur Birling to anger, he is not affected being confronted with the effects of his actions until the Inspector is about to leave. Sheila, Arthur Birling's daughter, however is moved to tears of shock and guilt; the Inspector has been successful in making her see the consequences of her actions. The fiancé, Gerald Croft, finds the Inspector similarly disrupts his
'Easy manner'.
He is distressed by his part in the destruction of the girl's life though he did try to deny knowing her at first as through the first part of the play, he feels completely relieved and innocent to any possible part in the suicide of Eva Smith. He never knew this girl but when the name Daisy Renton came up he gives himself away completely. Mrs Birling, however, remains entirely untouched by the Inspector's questioning. She refuses to see how Eva's could have followed as a consequence of her actions and tries to blame the father of Eva's child for the suicide. As the Inspector questions Eric he becomes entirely weak and helpless in front of his parents. Revealed as the father of Eva's unborn child, Eric reacts in a similar way to his sister. It is not until now in which Mrs Birling is finally affected, faced now with the realisation that her actions eventually lead to the death of her grandchild.
As the whole family begin to come to terms with the real crimes they have committed the Inspector intervenes to deliver his final judgement, that while Arthur Birling started it all, they are all to blame for Eva's death. Eva is one of the most important characters in the play yet the audience never actually sees her. Priestly has intended for Eva to represent all other people who were in similar situations at the time, the use of the name smith is cleverly used, as it is a common name, representing all the working class people. She is at the mercy of wealthier people giving her work. It seems she never expected much only enough to keep herself but in the end she found herself getting less. When she did find a fairly well paid job she probably found a little comfort having had little chance of getting another job after having been thrown out of her last job. When it is found she is forced to leave her second job she must have been quite frightened at the thought of having to make a living with nothing left in her life. By now she must have been quite desperate for help by now and when she meets Gerald she would have been quite relieved to have somebody to rely on even if she may have known the relationship was going to be short lived. When she could tell the relationship was coming to an end she accepted it, though she was still not particularly happy, she went away for a while to think over her situation. Gerald had not done anything terrible to Eva, he had simply felt sorry for Eva who had called herself Daisy Renton throughout her relationship with Gerald. But it was while he was with Sheila when all this had happened. This helplessness would have made the audience take pity on her understanding her plight at the fact that anybody of her class without help could be in the same position. When Eva met Eric he was drunk and only let him into her lodgings because he was in such a drunken state he may have caused a row. When she realised she was to have Eric’s baby they were both in a state. She thought of Eric as a child, knowing he was young and foolish she realised it would not be a good idea to marry him. It is at this point when she went to the voluntary help provided by the richer families of the town. Mrs Birling was one of these voluntary helpers yet she refused to help this poor girl at a time when she most needed it. Priestly shows the audience that Mrs Birling has a part in this crime and is certainly not innocent. The only person in the Birling family willing to help this young girl was Eric who even stole from his father to do so, Eric being the most irresponsible member of the family, this says a lot for respectable families.
When the Inspector leaves the Birling household, they gradually come to the conclusion that he was an impostor. Mr and Mrs Birling immediately criticise their children for being taken by the inspector. This shows how hypocritical Mr and Mrs Birling can be. They still feel innocent to all that has happened. Both Sheila and Eric who have realised the wrong they have caused are ashamed at their parent’s readiness to exclude them from any wrongdoing. Through the inspector acting as our conscience we are made aware that there are those in higher positions in society who have power yet abuse it. They take advantage of those weaker then themselves. Eva Smith was a working class girl trying to make a living. Through those in power she was used terribly, then when she was no longer of any use she was rid of. J.B.Priestly wanted to show that this would continue to happen if society does not learn from these mistakes made. Priestly has shown us how the middle class people act in society and the way in which they regard lower citizens. He hopes we will realise how the younger generations are the ones who can change the society in which we live. He shows this when Mr and Mrs Birling learn nothing from their mistakes while Eric and Sheila learn from their mistakes. The inspector brings the play to a close, summarising Priestly message when he says
“We don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other”
Exactly the opposite of what we are told to believe by Mr Birling, that everybody should look after himself or herself. Priestly conveyed his message well, showing us how the situation can be changed and who to depend on to change it.
The Inspector is obviously as real as all the other characters in body and can eat and drink and is solid. I know that J.B.Priestly became very interested in the fourth dimension and time. That is why I think that the inspector may have gone back in time or there might have been a time slip of some sort to make sure that these people knew what they had done. Another theory might be that the Inspector represents truth and is not a real person at all but just a representative of justice. I think that this is a very plausible idea and probably Priestly’s own thought.
