An Inspector Calls - The Role Of the Inspector

An Inspector calls - The Role Of the Inspector.

The character of Inspector Goole is the catalyst for the evening's

events and is quite a mystery and fascination to many people. He is

described and comes across as able to create 'an impression of

massiveness, solidity and purposefulness…' He speaks carefully,

weightily and has a disconcerting habit of looking hard at the person

he addresses. I will be carefully looking at how he manages to be so

powerful and authoritative, mainly concentrating on the specific

language and use of rhetorical speaking that he uses throughout the

play. I will also mention the mystery of whether the inspector was an

impostor and look at the broad possibilities, of which he may be,

One of the most effective things that the Inspector manages to do is

to have large power and control over the other characters and is seen

by the reader as an immense man, despite the stage directions clearly

stating that 'he need not be big'. He appears to be 'massive' because

of the stares he gives people, and how he makes them feel so uneasy.

He often stares the truth out of a character by doing so until they

admit to have not been sincere with their story. He has a

disconcerting way of speaking, a certain tone and pace of his voice,

but also cleverly structures sentences as if he has planned it all out

and using rhetorical speaking.

He asks question after question, to the Birlings always receiving

information but never giving anything, the most striking thing being

that he is never once surprised at what he hears, as if he knows

everything even before he hears it. On the account for the inspectors

knowing and understanding the history of Eva Smith, Sheila says:

'Why - you fool - he knows...

... middle of paper ...

...ew

it all already, and then involved himself giving his view on their

actions, criticising and blaming them.

He seems very unprofessional and gets too worked up and emotional on

such small things:

'Don't stammer and yammer at me again, man. I'm losing all patience

with you people'

This is a very unprofessional thing to say and shows that he does not

treat the Birlings with the professional respect that should be

expected.

For dramatic effect he also goes into unnecessary detail of how Eva

suffered and at some points gets quite personal and delicate with what

he tells the Birlings about her. Again this is very unprofessional.

No one will ever know exactly who the Inspector is, whether he is a

time traveller from the future, Eva smiths ghost? And this leaves a

great sense of mystery about the play, which I believe is one of its

great qualities.