Inspector Goole Flashcards
Act 2: ‘Public men, Mr Birling, have their responsibilities as well as their privileges’.
This is a message to wider British society in 1945.
During his time fighting in World War One, Priestley saw soldiers being sent off to die for their country. Upper-class generals and leaders stayed in safe places. They didn’t fear for their own lives but sent their social inferiors (those of lower class) into battle. This made him feel very angry at the class system.
In this quote, Goole wants to make it clear that although upper-class men are free to enjoy the benefits of their lifestyle, they must also be responsible members of society who care about the lower-class people who make the upper-class lifestyles possible.
ACT 3: ‘There’ll be plenty of time, when I’ve gone, for you all to adjust your family relationships’.
Inspector Goole recognises that his interrogations have changed the dynamics (how they get along) of the Birling family.
He tells them that they will have to change their relationships as they get to know one another again.
Sheila, for example, has developed a very different (less subservient) attitude towards her father – they will all need time to figure out how their family works once they show each other their true selves.
ACT 3: ‘Each of you helped to kill her. Remember that. Never forget it’
Inspector Goole speaks very plainly to the family – he does not soften the blow for them. He wants them to have learnt something from this experience, so he tells them that each one of them killed Eva.
He urges them to always remember what they have done – because he wants them to rethink their actions in the future to make sure they start to think about other people and how their words and activities can hurt others.
ACT 3: ‘One Eva Smith has gone – but there are millions and millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths still left with us… We don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for one another’.
Priestley uses Inspector Goole as the socialist conscience (sense of wrong and right) in the play.
Here, he expresses how people should look after one another, and suggests that everyone is equally as important as everyone else.
This statement directly contrasts with Mr Birlings comment in Act 1 that everyone should look after themselves.
