Inspector Calls Analysis
Inspector Calls Analysis
Inspector Calls Analysis
Who is the inspector and why has he come to the Birling’s house?
The role of the inspector in ‘An Inspector Calls’ is to act as a catalyst for realisation
within the Birling Family. He does this through his persona in order to force the
Birlings to realise that their actions have consequences, in this circumstance, lethal
consequences. In order to do this though, he had to portray the role of the inspector
to acquire a certain degree of respect and authority over the Birling’s in order to
break down each of the family members one by one.
Look at the stage directions for when he enters (p11). Choose a word or a phrase
that you think is important for his role in the play and explain why.
A word that I believe encapsulates the role of the inspector would be ‘Authoritative’.
This is because of the way the stage directions portray the role of the inspector. The
Inspector manages to give of the “impression of massiveness, solidity and
purposefulness” in a room filled with Alpha males & females. This suggests that the
aura and personality of the Inspector implies superiority to the point that his
classlessness became an unimportant detail in a room full of people that should, in
hindsight, have the upperhand over him. But, this was not the case because it didn’t
align with the construction and production of his character.
Look at P1 stage directions, end of the first paragraph. Why has the author changed
the lighting the moment the inspector enters?
It is possible that the author has changed the lighting upon the entrance of the
inspector in order display the characteristics of the Inspector through his
surroundings. The inspectors intense and hard personality and brutal honesty
throughout the course of the play is displayed unknowingly before he has even
spoken a word in the play. Almost as if the writer has constructed the smallest of
details to match the intensity of the current happenings in the play.
What information does the inspector reveal he has and how does he use it? During
the play he reveals more, eg the girl was pregnant. Why doesn’t he reveal all this
information at the beginning? (Pg12)
It seems from the offset of the inspectors involvement in the life of the Birlings he
seems to be one or more steps ahead of every single one of them. At the beginning
of their encounter he chooses his words carefully when talking to each of the Birlings
about their involvement in the death of Eva Smith making sure to give information
only when it’s completely necessary. There are implications that the inspector keeps
information to himself in order to specifically target each of the Birlings’ achilles
heels, for example he didn't make the Birlings aware of Eva Smiths pregnancy until
he was talking to Mrs Birling as he knew that it would affect her the most and
potentially force her to see the error of her ways refusing her the ‘charity’ she so
desperately needed.
Using the top half of P18 and the bottom half of P19, give two examples of how the
Inspector works them to tell the truth. How do both activities involve the audience in
the action?
The Inspector works the family to tell the truth by making them question their own
recollection of their memories by the fact that the inspector is very evidently sure of
himself in everything that he says to them. This makes the Birlings think back in
order to force the memory to reappear. The inspector psychologically forces the
Birlings to confess to their wrongdoings. In addition to this, the inspector uses
emotional turmoil to stir guilt in the family which eventually persuades them to tell the
truth. Hearing the backstory of woman taken by suicide partly by your own doing
would be something difficult for anyone to realise, therefore persuading them to tell
the truth, almost as if their moral compass and respect for the dead surpasses one's
loyalty to their family.
Who is the next suspect to be questioned? What 3 pieces of information cause her to
rush out of the room in tears? Why is this more dramatically effective than having her
stay in the room?
The three pieces of information that lead Sheila to the emotional outburst are; the
fact that Eva Smith became human and was given interests and was just like her, the
realisation that Eva Smith and Sheila crossed paths and changed both of their lives
forever and lastly, the realisation that Sheila was the sole reason she lost the last job
she ever had because of jealousy. These three details contributed to the ever
growing weight upon Sheila’s shoulders that eventually, took it’s toll and lead to the
construction of Sheila’s dramatic exit by Priestly. This is more dramatically effective
than having Sheila stay in the room because it makes it very apparent for the
characters as well as the audience that something that one person has forgotten can
very easily have a life changing effect on another, which in this case it did. Priestly
makes it very clear that he believes capitalist ideologies can have detrimental effects
on people and he does so through the dramatic construction of Sheila’s reaction.
The Inspector is very good at turning people’s words back on them. Why does he do
this?
It is possible that the Inspector tends to turn people’s words back on them in an
sharp attempt to force the Birlings to think about what they are saying. By using their
words against them, it’s possible that the Birlings will realise that it is a good idea to
think about what they say before they say it, hopefully causing them to transfer the
knowledge irrespective of their actions.
What is the Inspector’s attitude to what Sheila has done? Why does he also speak to
her harshly?
The Inspector seems visibly irritated by Sheila’s actions as a result of the fact that he
seems like he knows that Sheila’s was so avoidable. He knew that Eva didn’t
deserve to lose her job, she lost her ‘last steady job’ as a result of petty jealous. This
realisation making the Inspector almost visibly hotheaded which caused him to also
treat Sheila harshly. In addition, the inspector also speaks to her harshly in order to
make Sheila understand the consequences of her actions in it’s brutal truth instead
of dancing around the point like many people would have as she was a young
woman in this time in which people believed they were emotionally unstable. But the
inspector didn’t have time for this, after all, he wasn’t really an Inspector!
In what way is Sheila’s actions similar to her father’s? Who are we, the audience,
meant to judge more severely and why?
Sheila’s actions are similar to her father regarding the main concept that they both
caused her to lose her job as it, at that time, seemed to be the option that suited their
feelings the most - as if they weren’t playing with the life of a real person with
memories and experiences and a life. For them it didn't matter, they’re the upper
class and were completely disassociated. Although, Priestly constructs the play in a
manner that persuades the audience to judge Mr Birling more severely than Sheila
not because she’s a “clueless woman” but because as the play develops she
becomes more and more emotionally intelligent and through this demonstrates
remorse and acceptance of her actions unlike her father who demonstrated no
remorse and attempted to make the situation disappear through money, as if money
would bring back Eva Smith. He couldn’t accept that everything had changed and
there was nothing he could do about it, Sheila could.
What two things does the inspector do that show he is definitely in charge in Act
One. He leaves the stage once during the investigation. What does he do just before
he leaves and why does he go out at this moment? How does this make the play
more interesting?
In Act One, the Inspector shows that he’s in charge by taking control of the whole
situation as soon as he enters the play. From the offset, the Inspector is in control
and stays in control for the entirety of his visit which very evidently demonstrates he
was in control. When Birling leaves the stage seeking some support from his wife he
makes it very apparent that the Inspector is not wanted in his home. Mr B, does this
in a failed attempt to take back control from the Inspector. This makes the play more
interesting as a result of the very apparent ongoing battle between the Inspector and
Mr Birling. From this part of the play we can see Mr B scratching at the feet of the
Inspector and trying to get onto his level by acquiring help from his wife who
ironically, serves the Inspector better than she does Mr Birling.
Who does he question after this and in what order? Who is the hardest to make tell
the truth? Why does the author change the order round for the last two characters?
The inspector questions Gerald directly after Sheila as it seems as if the inspector
chooses who to inspect in regards to the next event after the previous family
member. The hardest person to make tell the truth was Mrs Birling as a result of her
blind loyalty to her family that slowly became denial until she could no longer deny
what was right in front of her. Priestly changes the order round for the last two
characters in order to directly shock the characters rather than the audience. The
writer uses dramatic irony here in which everyone but Mrs Birling is aware that Eric
was the father of Eva’s child. This has a larger effect on the audience as a result of
the intensity of the first hand emotion that is experienced by the characters.