Character Analysis: Inspector Goole Flashcards
What does Priestly use the inspector for ?
A mouth piece for his socialist ideas
‘ we are members of one body. We are responsible for each other’
How does Priestly invert the generic expectations for deceptive fiction?
An inspector calls is a work of detective fiction with Inspector Goole being the deceptive who will solve the case
A conventional detective sorry would focus on the narrowing down of suspects however Goole does the opposite
He shows how each individual was involved in the death of Eva Smith
As he states ‘ each of you helped to kill her’
Priestly inverts the conventional standards of detective fiction to present the key message of social responsibility
How does Prieslty use sentence structure to convey his message on social responsibility ?
‘What happened to her then may of determined what happened to her afterwards, and what happened to her afterwards may have driven her to suicide. A chain of events’
- example of anadupolsis where the second clause in the sentence begins by repeating the last word of the previous one
- he focuses on the surprising links between different events and people as he initiates the idea of connecting events and social responsibility through anadiplosis and it cleverly emphasizes how the content of the sentences in inextricably connected
How does the inspector summarise the events ?
The metaphoric image of a ‘chain of events’
The concrete noun ‘chain’ refers to an object that embodies physical linking
- this connote heaviness and imprisonment perphaps alluding to the links between the various events as what weighs down the family
- a chain can also be broken which could by symbolic of Priesltys hope that society can change their views on social responsibility
How does Prieslty use stage directions to show the importance of the inspector ?
In Act 1 suggest the lighting should change from ‘Pink and intimate’ to ‘brighter and harder’
- pink and intimate lighting is symbolic of the overly optimistic world view of the Birlings
- brighter and hard signifies a number of changes, the light becomes harsh and intense mirroring the lighting of an interrogation
- light shift would also illuminate every part of stage which is symbolic of how the inspector will illuminate the dark parts of each characters life’s
How does Priestly portray the inspector as mysterious? ( not his name)
- for a playwright that goes into great detail with his stage directions he provided very little for Inspector Goole
- all of his dialogue reveals what he is not rather than what he is ‘I don’t play golf’
- the vagueness of the character is deliberate and the lack of biographical evidence creates a sence of mystery
- the vague and ambiguous descriptions of the inspector help the audience to focus less on the character himself but the message of social responsibility that he emphasizes throughout the oaky
How does Priestly portray the inspector as mysterious ?
His name itself
Inspector Goole ( onomastic symbolism)
- Goole sounds similar to the word ‘ ghoul’ meaning a ghost or spirit
- this is deliberate by Preistly as the inspector haunts Gerald and the Birlings in their role of the death of Eva Smith
What is most of the inspectors dialogue?
Priestly uses questions
- he interrogated characters on stage which is conventionally within the detective genre as he investigates the crime
- however at times Goole delivers dialogue that seems to come directly from Prieslry
‘ the young ones, They are more impressionable’
- the inspectors final speech which some audiences may find overly dramatic is believing Prieslty uses too much hyperbolic language
- priestly uses the inspector to speak directly to the audience as he embodies Priestley’s socialist views to hammer home this idea of shared social responsibility
How does Priestly use supernatural imagery in inspectors final speech ? (Biblical imagery)
He enhances his message through his use of supernatural imagery in the inspectors final speech
- ‘fire and blood and anguish’
- biblical allusions to the Biblical description of hell being a blazing furnace
- however his message here is that people must make positive choices in life, and if not they will learn from their mistakes in hell
- this moralistic concept makes audiences sympathise with his message (elaborate)
- the biblical language adds to the supernatural and otherworldly aspect of Google which helps us to clearly remember his message
- furthermore ‘fire and blood and anguish’ is a historical reference foreshadowing the world wars that happened soon after the play was set
- through use of this contemporary allusion and would add to this sense of mystery and unknown about Goole as he seems to be able to predict future events however the lack of contexts evidence emphasise this
- Priestly Also employs sundries listing in this quotation to slow the pace of the sentence and emphasise the words themselves to the audience
