How Does Priestley Present The Inspector In An Inspector Calls

In the enigmatic ‘whodunnit’ play An Inspector Calls, Priestley unequivocally conveys the encapsulation of the eponymous character of the Inspector through presenting him as an authoritative figure, portraying how he is a vehicle for the socialist agenda of Priestley and illustrating him as omnipotent to teach the audience to not repeat the same mistakes.

To demonstrate that the law is unarguable, Priestley presents the Inspector as a symbol of authority. Prior to the arrival of the Inspector, Priestley uses the stage directions to describe the lighting as “pink and intimate” articulating the joviality of the atmosphere as Mr Birling leads a discussion. The lighting shifts to "bright and harder" when the Inspector arrives, simulating the intimidating

Priestley portrays the Inspector as an antithesis to Mr Birling since his socialist ideals foster sympathy for individuals of all backgrounds, directly juxtaposing the capitalist views of Mr Birling. The Inspector demonstrates that everyone in society is equally valued by viewing Eva, while she is never physically on stage, as an individual with a "promising little existence" and serving as her voice to represent the problems of the working class. The need for socialist change is established by the fact that only the inspector cares about the lower classes. This highlights the gap between the Inspector and Mr and Mrs Birling, who regarded Eva as unimportant due to her inferior social status as a member of the working class. The Inspector states that "public men, Mr Birling, have responsibilities as well as privileges," emphasising the incapacity of Mr Birling to grasp how a position of power comes with taking responsibility and how class has no influence on the degree of responsibility. This emphasises the importance of social obligation and demonstrates that we must all accept it in order for society to function properly. Mr Birling displays capitalist exploitation and abuses his authority by dismissing Eva Smith from his workplace only because she and other workers demand a raise in salary. He justifies himself by claiming, ‘It's my duty to keep labour costs down,’ demonstrating his selfishness and disregard towards the lower-working class. Priestley seeks to express the injustice in this to the audience in hopes of educating them about this systemic corruption in a capitalist system and to acknowledge the lower class as people too. In Act Three, Mrs. Birling says, "He certainly didn't make me confess," implying that she is abdicating her responsibilities in order to maintain her public image as "confess" has a negative connotation of criminality. She