After reading an Inspector calls, I am certain it is obvious to any one who reads it that the inspector is not what he appears to be at all. At first you have no suspicions of the Inspector, but as the play moves on it slowly dawns on you that the Inspector might be an impostor. The inspector also has major impacts on some of the characters. He is "Priestley's vehicle for his views on social responsibility. He represents social conscience. He has moral dimension."
The Inspectors name, Goole, has noteworthy significance. Ghoul has the same sound and its meaning has a great bearing on the play. A Ghoul is "an evil spirit" To Birling, and his upper class peers; this is an exact analysis of the Inspector. The thought of the Inspector being something extraordinary seems to be briefly confronted by Sheila but it is dismissed just as quickly.
Another theory might be that the Inspector represents truth and is not a real person at all but just a representative of justice. I think that this is a very plausible idea and probably Priestley's own thought. He could be a spirit representing the future, the Birlings chance of repent, although only Eric and Sheila recognize this. They are the only ones to realise that they have ruined this girl's life and it could be their doings that sent her to this horrible end. The Inspector could also be as real as all the other characters in body and can eat and drink and is solid. I think that the inspector may have gone back in time or there might have been a time slip of some sort to make sure that these people new what they had done. I think there is a possibility that the Inspector could...
An Inspector Calls
Thank you for your in depth character study of Priestley's famous inspector. The inspector is a classic character whom you have done a good job shedding light on. Great going!
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