Analysis of Act Three - Was it a Hoax?

• Analysis of Act Three - Was it a Hoax?

  Just when you think you've got it all worked out, there's a big twist. Apparently, Inspector Goole doesn't even exist - how do you explain that one? Then a final phone call tells us that there'll be no neat, happy ending
• The Inspector might not have been a real inspector - KEY EVENT

  1. Sheila and Sybil realise the Inspector might be a fake, but they have different ideas about how important this is

  2. Sybil and Arthur agree that it makes "all the difference" if it wasn't a real police visit

  3. Sheila and Eric disagree - "He was our police inspector all right". It doesn't matter if the Inspector was fake if what he's shown them is true
• Gerald's return splits the family further

  1. Gerald returns and says that he's found out there's no Inspector Goole on the force

  2. Sybil starts to rewrite her role in the evening - she says she's proud that she "didn't give in to him"

  3. Gerald points out that the photographs might have been different photographs of different girls. Gerald calls the hospital and confirms there's been no suicide - Birling is very relieved and considers himself guilt-free

  4. Gerald tells Sheila "Everything's all right now" while offering her the ring. She says it's "too soon" to be thinking about that and forgetting all she learnt this evening

  5. Gerald and Mr and Mrs Birling are relaxed and joking. The atmosphere seems just like it did at the start of the play - it's almost like a happy ending
• Writer's Technique


  • Priestley gives Gerald the role of a detective at the end of a murder mystery - he pieces together the events and summarises it for the others. But instead of solving the crime, Gerald makes it seem as if there was no crime at all
• A phone call... a girl has died, and an inspector will call

  This news arrives with the same spooky accuracy as the Inspector's first arrival:

  1. The Inspector first arrived just after Birling had said that "a man has to mind his own business". The Inspector's message was all about social responsibility"

  2. And at the end of the play the phone rings just after Birling has laughed at "the famous younger generation who know it all". Birling still thinks he knows it all - he's not learnt the Inspector's lesson