How Does Priestly Present Inspector Goole in the Play, Inspector Calls

...

Priestley presents Inspector Goole as a human philosopher through words and actions, making the audience feel judged and self-conscious rather than entertained. Before leaving, he begins to rebuke the Birling family’s actions saying “One Eva Smith has gone - but there are millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths left with us”. He begins to reprimand the family rather than interrogating, going against the usual conduct of an Inspector. Rather than acquiring knowledge, he seems to focus more on educating the Birling family and correcting their wrongs. He sees the case from a much larger perspective. He stops caring about the case but directs his attention to the situation and how it affects others. He generalizes Eva Smith, seeing her as a case study or a situation rather as a person and states that “there are millions of Eva Smith […]”. This evokes a sense of guilt within both the characters and the audience as it forces them to reflect on their ways of living as the Inspector reveals a different perspective to see the world through.

This guilt caused by the inspector’s philosophical words is felt again at the end of the play when Sheila tells her family “You knew it then. You began to learn something. And now you’ve stopped”. After the Inspector lectures the Birling family and leaves, the older generation of the family begin to put off the event as they find evidence to prove the Inspector’s fake identity. However, both Sheila and Eric reflect and their actions and begin to change as if they had become disciples of the Inspector’s philosophy. Their reflective actions evoke a sense of uneasiness within the audience as we are also forced to reflect on our way of thinking and the way in which we perceive the world. The Inspector is perceived more as a message rather than a person. Though he is physically gone, his message lingers and is reverberated throughout the Birling household. Though he is discounted as an Inspector, his message stands firm and affects all the characters, whether he is present or not.

In conclusion, Priestley portrays Inspector Google as a unique character, set apart from the other characters, whose main goal is to teach a lesson rather than to become another character within the plot. Priestly uses him a mouthpiece for the lesson he wants to teach, being different from everything the characters have known. His words are purposefully strong and dominant as it almost orders the characters and audience to reflect on their way of living. This difference and friction drives most of the play, as his ambiguous character creates drama character when placed alongside the other characters.

Word Count: 1422