What is the role of the Inspector
An Inspector Calls: What is the role of the Inspector? In discussing the role of the Inspector, we cannot separate ourselves from Preistleys upbringing and the political and social environment in which he lived. The Inspectors role is multi faceted. Just as the photograph that the inspector showed was meaningful to that individual only. So the role of the Inspector had a particular meaning to those at the Birling party and by implication to us. ... It is at first thought that the inspector is there to tell of the news that a worker has committed suicide at the infirmary. ... At the moment, the role of the Inspector seems to be to keep the play going by probing Birling and then Sheila questions on their involvement with Eva Smith. ... From this moment on, you get the feeling that he is just like another police inspector, making lines of enquiries about why a young woman would want to kill herself. ... Rather than trying to protect Sheila like Birling tries to, the inspector exposes her to the harsh truth of why Eva killed herself. ... Using the Inspector as a pawn like in a chess game, Priestley is trying to make the audience realise that it is really them up on stage, being inspected. ... The traits the family have being exposed by the Inspector - greed, jealousy, lust and many more are directed at society. The Inspector is trying to make the audience realise that they are looking at a mirror image of themselves. The Inspector is omniscient and well informed about the familys involvement with Eva Smith before they reveal their secrets. His name Inspector Goole suggests that he is perhaps a ghost of some kind. ... At this point he seems as if he is a real police inspector, as he is asking all the questions, although, there is that sense that he may not be, as the way he talks to them is not quite like that of a real inspector - he does not wrap Sheila up in cotton wool, which during those times, women were. Unlike a conventional police inspector, not only is he there to inspect and question, he already knows all the information they reveal and is actually there to inform them of what they did.