Inspector Goole has an incredibly important role in ‘An Inspector Calls’ by J.B. Priestly. He is a persistent person with a strong character which allows him to take control of all of the actions of the other characters and the development of the play.
Firstly, the Inspector is clearly important because his name is in the title. ‘An Inspector Calls’. Only the most important of character have their names in the title of the play. Priestly wishes to convey the importance of the Inspector before the play has begun.
The Inspector arrives in the middle of Birling’s speech in the first Act. He informs the Birlings that a girl called Eva Smith has committed suicide. He says Eva’s diary names members of the Birling family. ‘A girl has died in the infirmary’. Suddenly the whole story changes, from it being a joyful celebration of an engagement into an interrogation. This shows his importance because he has changed the mood of the whole house simply by entering.
The Inspector, when interrogating Sheila, makes her feel guilty by repeating everything for more emphases ‘You used the power you had to punish a girl just because she made you feel like that’ Sheila admits that she only conspired to get Eva fired because she was a ‘pretty working-class woman’. The Inspector has made Sheila confess that she has a jealous and spiteful side. The Inspector therefore was important in this instance because he made Sheila reveal a part of her character and forced her into recognising the error of her ways.
The Inspector then reveals that Eva was also known as Daisy Renton, which triggers Gerald acting differently. Gerald admits that he met her in a theatre bar and installed her as his mistress. Sheila thanks him for speaking the truth but calls the engagement off. ‘She gives him the ring’. This shows the Inspector’s importance because the reason that all the characters were at the house was because of the engagement and the Inspector revealed that Gerald is a cheat. This opens up a dynamic that Gerald could be lying about other things as well.
The Inspector’s attitude to Birling tells us a lot. Birling is used to people being incredibly nice to him, but the inspector’s attitude is a no-nonsense attitude. For instance when Birling complains about Goole asking questions Goole replies ‘It’s my duty to ask questions’. This makes the inspector important because it shows him having confidence to have none of Birling’s evasive tactics, especially because of Birling’s social status. This makes him important because he seems to be above class norms which were extremely prevalent in the 1910’s in Britain.
The inspector then interrogates Eric who reveals that he raped Eva while drunk and stole £50 from his fathers business. This makes the inspector important because this tells us that Eric is a drunk young man who has a vicious, nasty side. The inspector reminds the Birlings that ‘If men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish’. This is an obvious reference to WW1 which would happen two years after the events of the play. This shows his importance because he clearly very intelligent and is able to predict the future. He is also very important because he is the only character who conveys Priestley’s socialist values. ‘Everybody is responsible for one another’. Priestley places a lot of moral integrity in the Inspector and makes him responsible for giving the world his message showing the Inspector to be an incredibly important character.
In Conclusion, the Inspector is very important in the play for number of reasons. Firstly, he makes the characters confess something which show their darker side). These revelations have repercussions on the relationship between them and the other characters (Sheila no longer is engaged to Gerald). Secondly, he changes the whole play, before it was a celebration, then it turned into an interrogation regarding a girls ‘death’. He also changes the atmosphere for which every character is scared that something about them will be revealed and when it is revealed they stutter, putting the spotlight on that character. Finally, it could be said that the Inspector’s purpose in the play is to warn the Birlings of the real Inspector interrogation and to accept responsibility for what they have done and to learn from it. Goole also forces the characters to question their very own life. All these reasons make the Inspector in my opinion very important in ‘An Inspector Calls’.