8/6/2019 Inspectors Role in Play

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1 Katherine Stevens 11SR

How is the character of Inspector Goole

important to the play as a whole?

The character of inspector Goole acts as a monotonous catalyst throughout the play. He foreshadows eventsto follow using his cunning psychology to portray Priestleys political anthology. Although the inspector is

found to be false, somehow he still manages to leave an impression with the other characters, making them

admit to heart-wrenching crimes, questioning their own motifs and acting as a symbol of justice in all aspects

of the play.

Priestley uses the inspector to portray his views of the class system at the time and show his own

observations and views of the political unrest of the period. Written in 1945 but set in 1912, which was the

year of the sinking of the Titanic, "An Inspector Calls" gave Priestly a character through which to express his

socialist views and disrespect for capitalism. The sinking of the Titanic and the reference made to it in the play

is symbolic of capitalist shortcomings. During the questioning of the other characters for their influence in Eva

Smiths death the inspector believes that everyone is equally to blame, this therefore connoting the theme of

socialism into the play. Another way which Priestleys political views are addressed in the spee ch is when theinspector makes the statement that, one Eva Smith has gonewhat we think and say and do. This sermon

states the fact that people must live together and sponge off each others wealth to help those in need.

Priestleys view of the world is counteracted by Mr Birlings complacent views on society and of whom

assumes that his view of the world is the only one that is correct, still I cant accept responsibilityit would be

very awkward. This addresses the fact that Mr Birling does not agree with the socialistic view that everyone

should be equal and be responsible for each other.

Another way in which the inspector becomes an important part of the play is in which he treats each

of the characters with un-biased viewpoints and a neutral mind. This is shown when he questions each

character addressing them each with the same photo and questions and then expanding his questions to suit

each character. He treats each character fairly and gives them a chance to redeem their actions and then uses

more aggressive questioning techniques. This therefore gives the impression that Priestley has used the

inspector as an unprejudiced comparison to the characters of the Birling family. When he questions Sheila he

listens while she admits to having got the girl fired from her employer but then speaks sternly to her to gain

an answer.

Following on from these points the inspector can also be referred to as catalyst acting on the plays

plot and script. He comes in between characters yet however joins people at the same time. When he

questions Gerald and Sheila he really gets in-between their close relationship so he can get the answer out of

Gerald; he does this by making sure Sheila is kept in the room during Geralds confession, which leads onto

Sheilas sarcastic answers of, you were the wonderful fairy princeyou must have enjoyed it. This leads us to

believe that the inspector has made crucial decisions during the play as to which routes to take with

questioning people. He also tries to keep Eric happy obviously so he can questions him later by persuading

Mr Birling to allow his son to have another drink, I know hes your son and this is your housesee him

through.

The Inspector's role in questioning the characters is a very influential one. He makes the characters

confess their actions and reveal what he seems to already know for example, at the end of Act One, when

Gerald is discussing to Shelia about the time he spent with Daisy Renton last summer. He already knows that

Gerald has something to reveal and that it is just a matter of time: The door opens and the Inspector walks in

looking steadily and searchingly at them. Inspector - Well?' He uses a brilliant technique of giving a small part

of the event to offer the character to continue the story. Therefore forcing the characters to open up using

8/6/2019 Inspectors Role in Play

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2 Katherine Stevens 11SR

psychology. The inspector leads the characters to confront their own weaknesses; which makes them feel

shocked and guilty, getting them to put across their role in the story of Evas death. One major questioning of

Mrs Birling shows us how he set her up to give the answers he needed, as he asks leading questions, was it or

was it not your influence he knows that as a respectable women she could not lie. This is also shown as he

uses his research to his advantage when asking, Mrs Birling, youre a member a, arent you? this portrays

the fact that he uses the power of her social class position to his advantage when questioning her.

The Inspector himself adds drama: He controls the pace and tension by dealing with one line of

enquiry at a time. He does this by questioning each of the characters separately but vigorously. There is a lot of

tension as each member of the family is found to have played a part in Eva's death under the inspectors

systematically questioning. New pieces of information contribute to the story being constructed; His method is

to confront a suspect with a piece of information and then make them talk - or, as Sheila puts it, "he's giving us

the rope - so that we'll hang ourselves.", this therefore makes the audience interested in how each character

reacts to the revelations.

A final reason why the inspector plays a vital role in the play is that during the questioning he seems

to know and understand an extraordinary amount. This is shown by the fact that he knows the history of Eva

Smith and the Birling's involvement in it, even though she died only hours ago. Sheila tells Gerald, "Of course

he knows." Another way in which the inspectors knowledge is shown is by the fact that he knows things are

going to happen - He says "I'm waiting... To do my duty" just before Eric's return; as if he expected Eric to

reappear at exactly that moment. Without this knowledge the play would not have a centre thread to run

through.

Overall the inspector obviously plays an important role in the infrastructure of An Inspector Calls. The most

convincing factor is that he acts as Priestleys voice because he is shown to portray very strong Socialist views

and in the final speech he fuses together all of Priestleys thoughts into one final rhetorical sermon; like he is

a politician. This also forebodes the war as it is like he is warning people of the result if people do not follow

this way of life.