the inspector

• priestley leaves the inspector’s physical appearance as vague and, to some extent, unimportant due to his message of social responsibility being more important.
• priestley dictates in the stage directions that the inspector “need not be a big man, but he creates at once an impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness”.
• the inspector takes on the role of an omniscient moral force for good.
• priestley utilises the inspector as a vehicle to catalyse change in perceptions of responsibility.
• through the inspector, priestley encourages the younger generation to break away from the older, more traditional and individualistic older generation.
• the inspector is opposed to, and exempt from, the immorality and corruption of society.
• priestley immediately portrays the inspector as a moral force as he refuses a drink of port, “no, thank you […] i’m on duty”.
• alcohol bears connotations of immoral behaviour, and therefore the inspector‘s refusal of a drink is symbolic of him refusing to act immorally.
• the offering of an alcoholic drink to a policeman on duty is a soft attempt by mr birling to corrupt the inspector, who is conversely responsible and refuses.
• priestley utilises a cyclical structure, as the also ends with the inspector rejecting mr birling’s attempt of bribery. mr birling makes it clear he would “give thousands”, to which the inspector responds with “you’re offering the money at the wrong time”.
• the cyclical structure is used to demonstrate the consistency of the inspector’s morals, while simultaneously presenting mr birling as immoral throughout.
• the inspector’s views are noticeably too progressive for the pre-suffrage 1912 society and are more aligned with those of the contemporary audience.
• the inspector sees eva as an individual and refuses to refer to her as “girl” in the same superficial fashion as the birling’s do. instead, he persists on referring to her by her name.
• to the inspector, eva is an individual, who has significance. this is evidenced by his acknowledgement of eva’s “promising little life”.
• priestley presents immorality and capitalism as synonymous, meaning that as the inspector rejects capitalism, he also rejects immorality.
• the supernatural element of the inspector is evident through his apparent omniscience.
• the inspector’s purpose is not to convict the birlings of any crime, but rather to force them to recognise the immorality of their actions and change their attitudes towards social responsibility.
• the inspector “need not be a large man” but he “gives the impression of massiveness”. his physical appearance does not convey the impact of his message and prowess of his character, it is the strength of his values and morals which are important.
• the inspector is presented as dressing modestly in a “plain darkish suit”. perhaps, this suggests that he has no interest in drawing attention to himself; his purpose is to promote socialist values and denounce the commercialism and superficiality of capitalism.
• the inspector’s modest appearance is in direct contrast with mr birling, who is “heavy looking” and “portentous” with a “substantial” house.
• through the juxtaposition of the inspector and mr birling‘s appearances, priestley demonstrates how the inspector‘s views of socialism are stronger than mr birling‘s. he does not need to reinforce his views with an impressive appearance.
• priestley utilises the inspector‘s final speech to warn the audience of the consequences of continuing in the same capitalist and individualistic fashion.
• the inspector’s final message extends to the audience through the sweeping use of the plural noun “men”.
• priestley incorporates biblical references within the inspector’s final speech which establish an atmosphere similar to that of catholic mass.
• through summarising each characters’ sins, the inspector symbolises the role of a pastor and warns the character of not following his moral message: “if men will not learn that lesson”.
• the phone call at the end of the play is symbolic of WW2 as this is the “fire and blood and anguish” the inspector warned the characters about.
• the repetition of events (eva’s death) is a reflection of the repeated world wars.
• the character of the inspector is used as a mouthpiece to present priestley’s own views regarding the need for socialist change.
• the cyclical structure of the play is significant as it shows the consequences the birlings face due to their inability to assimilate (understand) the inspector‘s message.
• the inspector is omniscient, yet not omnipotent. all-knowing, yet not all-powerful.
• the inspector is not omnipotent as priestley’s message would be less effective on the audience if he forced the characters to change.
• priestley uses shocking imagery in an attempt to persuade the characters to change as he frequently refers to eva’s death as “burnt her inside out”.
• the inspector relies on rhetorical devices, such as triplets, to evoke empathy. eva was “friendless, penniless, desperate” and needed “advice, sympathy, friendliness”.
• the inspector attempts to appeal to the maternal side of mrs birling in an attempt to persuade her: “you’ve had children”. this does not work as mrs birling is not a caring mother.
• the nature of his enquiry being moral, rather than criminal, elevates the inspector to that of an agent of god.
• the allusion to the book of genesis, “we are members of one body” implies that the inspector is speaking on god’s behalf as priestley echoes the words of god.
• the inspector is the foil to mr birling.
• priestley portrays the inspector as the favourable alternative to mr birling, which also extends to socialism being a favourable alternative to capitalism.
• the purpose of mr birling is to allow the inspector to be presented in a favourable light.
• priestley places the inspector and mr birling in direct opposition in order to establish the ideological debate between capitalism and socialism.