Notesale: Turn your study into money

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“Inspector Goole merely functions as a mouthpiece of Priestley’s idea”
I agree that the Inspector was a mouthpiece of Priestley’s idea but I also think he has other functions in the play
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JB Priestley wrote the play in 1945
but the scenes and the story was set in 1912
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He wanted to teach
the audience watching a lesson so he used himself as Inspector Goole and the Birlings as the rich society who had to
change
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He was a person in the play who wanted to change the attitudes of
the Birlings and the Croft to make them realise that they need to help the poor people
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“We don’t live alone
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We are responsible
for each other”
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This has a biblical reference which suggests that
we have a duty to take care of one another
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This speech is used as a metaphor to show the
character of Mr Birling in Act 1 “a man has to make his own way”
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Also this quote was
made significant by the “sharp ring” of the bell when the Inspector came
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Throughout the play, he shows the Birlings that we are ‘bees in a hive’
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This shows that Inspector Goole clearly portrays the role of a socialist in the play
proving that he is the mouthpiece of Priestley because Priestley had the same views and ideas about the society which was
clearly shown in Inspector Goole’s speech
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Inspector Goole is
used to highlight the hypocrisy of the upper class by showing each member of the family how they have committed a
crime and also tells them that “each of you helped killed her” showing they are all responsible
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He also makes them feel guilty by
arguing that none of them can say “I’m sorry, Eva Smith”
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Although he is directing this to Eva, some people may argue that it
relates to all working class women
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The surname Smith is the
classical surname so Eva Smith represents w/c women
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Priestley makes it seem like the
Inspector is controlling the play
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Before he arrived, the surroundings was ‘pink and intimate’ but when the Inspector arrived,
the lighting became ‘brighter and harder’ showing that he has a strong role in the play and his character has importance
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This was
used as an irony just before the Inspector arrives so that the audience has someone else to trust which is the Inspector
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The use of
the dash shows that Mr Birling paused
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Another point is the length of the speeches
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He has long speeches although he does not
want to ‘lecture’ anyone
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The Inspector also controls them by dealing
with ‘one person and one line of enquiry at a time’
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This creates a sense of
‘annoyance’ from the upper class as mentioned in the stage directions
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This shows that the attention is always on the Inspector as
Priestley wanted to highlight the intention of the Inspector and show his character more which is why he presented the
Inspector as controlling
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One example is he could be the conscience of
the upper class
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All of the upper class reveal the truth on how they all ‘wronged’ Eva Smith and a normal human being cannot
make everyone confess therefore the Inspector must be their conscience
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Another alternative is that he could be the voice of God
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He makes all of them reveal their truth
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In Act 1, he says ‘two hours ago a young woman died in the Infirmary’ but in Act 3 there is a
repetition by Mr Birling when he is on the phone ‘a girl has just died-on her way to the Infirmary’
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Due to the fact that only God can do this, we can assume that the Inspector is the voice of God
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Realistically speaking, none of the family members committed a crime except from Eric who stole
but this was within the family business
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Another example is “fire and blood
and anguish” which is a biblical imagery to show how people are punished for their sins by God
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Also, he uses emotive language to distress the family “burnt-out inside on a slab”
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Positive adjective like “pretty” and “lively”
forces the audience to sympathise with Eva making their actions harsher
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He also asks leading questions where
the character simply needs to admit
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This shows how he drives the play

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