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Summary Inspector goole - AIC
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complete overview and depth into the role and function of inspector goole in the play an inspector calls
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character notes Inspector characterdressed in a minimal “plain darkish suit” and seems to be an ordinary police Inspector. However, the supernatural Moral force - resistant to corruption. opposed to, and exempt from, the immorality
nature of the Inspector becomes apparent as the play progresses, as the homophone of Goole (“ghoul”) suggests. and corruption of society. Priestley immediately portrays the Inspector’s as a moral
Priestley leaves physical appearance as vague and unimportant due to his message of social responsibility being force as he refuses a drink of port: “no, thank you [...] I’m on duty”. Alcohol bears
more important than his appearance. . connotations of immoral behaviour and therefore the Inspector’s refusal is symbolic
The Inspector takes on the role of an omniscient (all-knowing), moral force for good. And presents his character as a of his refusing to act immorally. Priestley utilises a cyclical structure, as the play also
spiritual avenging angel. ends with the Inspector rejecting Mr Birling’s attempt of bribery. Mr Birling makes it
Socialist values and ideology are channelled through the Inspector. clear he would “give thousands”, which the Inspector responds with “you’re offering
Priestley utilises the Inspector as a vehicle to catalyse change in perceptions of responsibility. He encourages the the money at the wrong time”. This is used to demonstrate the consistency of the
younger generation to break away from the older, more traditional and individualistic generation. Inspector’s morals. The audience realises this and draws upon their political
differences as the cause - capitalism causes immorality and socialism causes
Final impressions morality.
Priestley, through the character of the Inspector, expresses the need for change, yet, he also describes how to Socialist views - demonstrates the Inspector’s conviction that everyone is equally
change. Priestley, through the Inspector, portrays Eva as symbolic of the reason behind the need for society to important within society. The Inspector’s views are noticeably too progressive for the
adopt socialism. In doing this, Priestley creates a compelling argument for the need for reform through the guilt pre-suffrage 1912 society and are more aligned with those of the contemporary
of the characters in their role of Eva’s suicide. Therefore, Priestley, through the Inspector, conveys the message audience. encourages the audience to realise a person’s class is irrelevant to their
that it is the whole of the upper class that is responsible for the suffering of the working-class. In doing this, it is degree of responsibility as “public men … have responsibility as well as privilege”. The
clear to the audience that the disparity in the class system is responsible for this suffering of the lower classes.
Inspector sees Eva as an individual and refuses to refer to her as a “girl” in the same
The Inspector refuses to allow Sheila to comprehensively accept blame for Eva’s death and continues his policy
superficial fashion as the Birlings do and persists in referring to her by her name, Eva
of “one line of enquiry at a time”. must compromise his beliefs and partially excuse her behaviour to gain her as
Smith and as an individual who has significance.
an ally and display the culpability of all members of the upper-classes. He lays blame on the “power you had”
Omniscience - Inspector’s purpose is not to convict the Birlings of any crime, but is
rather than Sheila as an individual. Sheila is not fundamentally a bad person; the influence of her class and
much deeper and more significant; attempts to force the Birlings to recognise the
environment has caused her to behave in that immoral manner.
immorality of their actions and change their attitudes towards social responsibility.
ARRIVAL Physical appearance - describes the Inspector in the stage directions in order to
deliberately times the Inspector’s arrival to coincide with, and interrupt, Mr Birling and convey the message that a person’s inner morality and integrity supplants their
his negative view of socialism. allows Priestley to structurally represent the Inspector’s
AN INSPECOR CALLS outward appearance. The Inspector “need not be a large man” but he “gives the
opposition to Mr Birling’s capitalist views. Mr Birling’s final statement before the
Inspector’s arrival: “a man has to mind his own business and look after himself”
INSPECTOR GOOLE impression of massiveness”. shows the strength of his values and morals which are
important. “plain darkish suit” suggesting that the Inspector has no interest in
The Inspector’s interruption of the monotonous, slow paced and single character dominated scene also causes the attracting interest to himself; his purpose is to promote socialist values and
audience to experience subconscious relief at the Inspectors arrival. Priestley may intend for this relief to become denounce the commercialism and superficiality of capitalism. This modest
associated with the Inspectors presence. audience are manipulated into finding relief from the change in ideology appearance is in direct contrast with Mr Birling, who is “heavy looking” and
from a capitalist to a socialist narrative. This enables Priestley’s manipulation of the audience’s response to the “portentous” with a “substantial” house. Through the juxtaposition of these two
beliefs he supports. characters, Priestley demonstrates the strength of the Inspector’s values of socialism
Symbolism are stronger than Birlings’ views of capitalism. This is why the Inspector doesn’t need
Omniscient, yet not omnipotent [all-knowing yet not all-powerful] to reinforce his views with an impressive appearance.
Priestley’s message would be less effective on the audience if the Inspector forced the characters to change. Vehicle for Priestley’s agenda - Inspector is used as a mouthpiece to present
Moreover, this would undermine the message of the play, as the audience needs to accept greater responsibility Priestley’s own views regarding the need for socialist change. portrayed as a role
without an external force. Priestley uses shocking imagery in an attempt to persuade the characters to change as he model and is used to show how people should treat each other. The cyclical structure
frequently refers to Eva’s death as “burnt her inside out”. Persuasion is the Inspector’s greatest form of power, as he of the play is contextually significant; the characters of the play failed to assimilate
relies on rhetorical devices, such as triplets, to evoke empathy: Eva was “friendless, penniless, desperate” and (understand) the Inspector’s message. Thus, unless the contemporary audience
needed “advice, sympathy, friendliness”. embraces the Inspector’s lesson and takes on greater social responsibility, they too
Agent of God will face the consequences, which plagued the characters of 1912. The Inspector’s
Both the Inspector and God are Omniscient. The Inspector arrives immediately after Mr Birling dismisses socialism. departure is necessary to test the characters to see if they have learnt their lesson:
The nature of the enquiry being moral, rather than criminal, elevates the Inspector to that of an agent of God. The this departure mirrors the interwar years between WWI and WWII; the ruling class also
Inspector sets about forcing confessions of vices (sins) from the characters, similar to the role of a priest, who had the chance to change their capitalist and individualistic attitudes.
accepts confessions of sins in the Catholic Church. This link is strengthened through the allusion to the Book of Consequences of lacking responsibility - utilises the Inspector’s final speech to warn
Genesis as “we are members of one body”, which is also used in Holy Communion. Therefore, through echoing the audience of consequences in continuing in the same capitalist and individualistic
words of God, Priestley implies that the Inspector is speaking on God’s behalf. Alternatively, this semantic field of
fashion . Through summarising each characters’ sins, the Inspector symbolises the
morality and religion could simply be Priestley drawing upon existing Christian concepts of responsibility to increase
role of a Pastor and warns the characters of not following his moral message: “if men
the audience’s acceptance of Priestley’s message. Both Christian mass and the Inspector’s final speech ends with “go
will not learn that lesson”. This message extends to the rest of the audience through
forth in peace”.Priestley sending the message to the audience that by following the Inspector’s socialist message,
the sweeping use of the plural noun “men”, who are instructed by the Inspector to
society can finally achieve peace.
“learn that lesson” of capitalism and the detrimental effects of commercialism.
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