Inspector Goole Character Analysis

Inspector Goole is a mysterious figure. His name calls to mind the word 'ghoul ', which is defined as an evil spirit or phantom ghost, Although he is deeply bothered and concerned by Eva Smith 's suicide and the concept of societies morals. He is ghost-like in the sense that he doesn 't officially exist. The fact that we don 't officially know who or what the inspector is at the end of the play leaves whether Inspector Goole is real or not open to interpretation of the individual members of the audience. My personal belief he is that of something similar to that of the ghosts of christmas from Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol” who 's purpose is too make a person aware of their morals and force them to confront their wrong doing. There

He knows the history of Eva Smith and the Birlings ' involvement in it, even though she had only died a few hours ago. In act two the Inspector states “She kept a rough sort of diary. And she said there that she had to go away and be quiet and remember "just to make it last longer." She felt there 'd never be anything as good again for her - so she had to make it last longer.” This is an exceptionally personal moment for the Inspector, who gives us one of the first views at Eva Smith 's personality and morals. He states that he has found the diary in Eva Smith 's room, although how would he have had time to look inside her room, much less investigate the Birlings involvement in her life. This is almost enough proof to argued that the Inspector in fact has a more personal connection to Eva Smith, we could even go as far to suggest that specifically, he is her ghost which is even more chilling than Gareth Lloyd Evans interpretation that the inspector is 'an embodiment of a collective conscience’. Priestley never tells us directly, but there is certainly a hint at more personal connection between the Inspector and Eva Smith. Sheila tells Gerald, “"Of course he knows.” in act 1, proving that the characters are uneasy with the predictions he makes and how he knows an extreme amount about about their personal lives. his un-real gift for prediction is later on reinforced in act 3 by when He says “"I 'm

He isn’t objective and takes personal moral stances throughout his interrogation. He supports of labor rights that were virtually non-existent at the time this play is set (pre-war England). The quote from act 3, ‘she wanted twenty-five shillings a week instead of twenty-two and a sixpence. You made her pay a heavy price for that. And now she’ll make you pay a heavier price still ” is proof that the inspector was against Birling firing Eva Smith just because she just wanted a decent salary. Priestly attempts to exemplify in Mr Birling’s character into the type of mentality that majority of upper class capitalist business men had in the early 1900s in England. It is extremely ironic that the Inspector rings the bell of the house just as Mr Birling is telling Eric and Gerald that people must look out solely for their own interests ("a man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own - and - “ act 1): throughout his interrogation, the Inspector champions the very opposite idea - that "we are all responsible for each other.” The Inspectors view on community as a whole is considered a very socialist view. Notably, Priestly was socialist after all and used the play as a more socially acceptable way of stating his opinion on social responsibility, politics and labour rights. The