The Role of Inspector Goole in in An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestly E

The Role of Inspector Goole in An Inspector Calls Examine the role of Inspector Goole in An Inspector Calls & study the impact his role has on the rest of the characters in the play. Inspector Goole is the most important character in the play ‘An Inspector Calls’ because he is the catalyst for the events that take place in the play. Priestley’s intensions were to reveal to his audience the social state of England in 1945. He felt that little had changed since the turn of the century. Preistley was a socialist and he very strongly believed that everyone should be equal. In this play Preistley shows to the audience that at this time it was Socialist vs Capitalist, and that everyone was separated in to social classes. These were working class, middle class and upper class. In the play there is a character to fit into each one of these classes: Daisy Renton / Eva Smith – Lower class Mr Birling, Eric and Sheila – Middle Class Mrs Birling and Eric – Upper class In the play I think that Inspector Goole is Priestley’s social conscience. The play was written after World War 1 but was actually set at the turn of the century (in 1912). Mr Birling thinks that he knows everything but infact what he says is a load of rubbish, such as: '"The Titanic....unsikable, absolutely unsinkable"' where it sunk on its first journey. He also says there is no chance of a war happeining, but a few years later he is again proven wrong. Mr Birling is a very shallow man. The physical description of Inspector Goole is very unique and reveals a lot about his character. The Inspector ‘creates an impression of massiveness’ and this would be intimidating for the family. Priestly describes him as having ‘solidity’ and ‘... ...spector, some more obvious than others. For example the way in which he talks to the family, the family don't expect to be treated like this so they panic and reveal to having conections with Eva or Daisy. His name could also tell us that he is an imposter as its sound like 'ghoul' which is a ghost, in others words non existant. He has a very big effect on the family. Birling says: '"still, I can't accept any responsibility."' as he is scared of having his reputation disrupted, he would rather have his family take the blame. This shows he is a very selfish man. So I believe that Preistly shows his veiws through the character inspector Goole, he is valuable in the play because he author explain how he feels. He shows us about morality and morals. There has a good varity of characters in the play and the way the play slowly progresses is very good.