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Assess The Role Of The Inspector In An Inspector Calls

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An inspector calls

In the intriguing play ‘An Inspector Calls’ by J. B. Priestley, there is a character who plays a key role - Inspector Goole. The play is set in 1912 in England, a time of a gender inequality issues. The drama begins with a family gathering to celebrate Sheila Birling's engagement with the rich Gerald Croft. Their evening is interrupted by inspector Goole, who interrogates each of them about their role in Eva Smith's death. Priestley effectively portrays Inspector
Goole as a key character by showing how much the inspector can change in one family in one day.

Priestly uses the inspector to bring important themes of social responsibility into the play.
He interrogates Arthur Birling, a man who shows little to no sympathy for his workers, about …show more content…

Arthur Birling found that offensive and fired her with no care.
“Rubbish! Do you know what happened to this girl after she left my works?”
This shows Arthur Birlings' lack of social responsibility as he can’t see why him firing Eva was a bad thing even though he previously admitted that she was a good worker and he had no real reason to fire her. Further in the play, he continues to try and find other reasons for her death that doesn’t involve him because he recognises nothing as his fault. This never would have been brought up if the inspector hadn’t come and questioned Birling about his involvement and he wouldn’t be as aware of his own actions.

They portrayed the inspector to have a key role in the play, as he effectively makes the other characters and the reader think with his speech towards the end of the play.
“'But just remember this. One Eva Smith has gone–but there are millions and millions of Eva
Smiths and John Smiths still left with us, with their lives, their hopes and fears, their suffering and chance of happiness, all intertwined with our lives, with what we think and say and do. We don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for

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