Example ‘An Inspector Calls’
essay 2

How does Priestley use the Inspector to suggest the need for social change in ‘An Inspector Calls’?

In An Inspector Calls, Priestley presents the Inspector as a symbol of socialism and uses him to juxtapose Mr Birling – a symbol of capitalism. He does this by presenting the Inspector and his ideas as powerful, therefore implying that socialism is powerful and society must choose to adopt socialist ideologies.

At the start of An Inspector Calls, Priestley presents the Inspector and his ideas as powerful. Before the Inspector arrives, the lighting is “pink and intimate”; however, upon his arrival it gets “brighter and harder.” The stage direction “pink and intimate” is significant as it represents how the audience look back on 1912 pre-war society through rose-tinted spectacles – they romanticise it. However, the Inspector shines a light on the Birling’s joyful presentation, revealing the truth and implying that the good old days were not good at all – this therefore serves to provoke thought in the audience about what society really was like. This is the first indication of the need for social change. The Inspector’s arrival is marked by the “sharp ring of a doorbell”. This stage direction happens to interrupt Mr Birling’s monotonous single character-driven speech and stimulates unconscious relief associated with the Inspector’s arrival – the audience immediately favour the Inspector (a symbol of socialism) to Mr Birling as he ceases Mr Birling’s capitalist ideas. A Birling would be horrified. Due to the use of dramatic irony, immediately presenting his ideas as powerful as he manages to shut down an upper-class ignorant “hard-headed businessman” (which he calls himself). The compound adjective suggests Mr Birling is assure of himself and what he believes in – he’s too arrogant. However, Priestley presents the Inspector as the antithesis to Mr Birling to highlight the need for social change. Throughout the play, stage directions for the Inspector include cognates of the word “massive” – “massively taking charge” and “massiveness, solidity, and purposefulness.” This triad of adjectives not only represent the Inspector but socialism too. Solidity suggests it is a strong foundation for society which would appeal to the post-war impressionable audience who are rebuilding the world. Purposefulness implies socialism (and the Inspector) can help society progress and never go back to being like it was pre-war in 1912. Overall, massiveness implies emphasis on the Inspector’s power and also the connoted idea that what he stands for is massive and important too. By presenting the Inspector and his ideas as powerful, Priestley is able to create an admiration for him; therefore, they will want to change society to fit his ideas, not Mr Birling’s.

Furthermore, Priestley uses the Inspector’s power over the upper class and his ideas to suggest the need for social change by presenting the impact of individualism on society, therefore suggesting we must change to help one another – an idea the Birling family don’t initially understand. When the Inspector informs the family of Eva Smith’s suicide, he states that “she burnt her inside out”, and the Inspector uses graphic language here to evoke an emotional response not only among the Birlings but also among the audience, who want to sympathise with her. The Inspector suggests that it was “a chain of events” – capitalist events – that lead to the suicide. However, he also tells the Birling family “each of you helped to kill her. Remember that. Never forget it.” Through this triad, the Inspector implies that each member of the Birling family was responsible in driving Eva to the end of her life. The two short imperative sentences suggest that in order for society to progress (what the audience wants), they must take responsibility for their actions by acknowledging the moral implications. Eva Smith is a microcosm to represent the working class. The Inspector tells the Birlings that she changed her name to Daisy Renton. Smith was the most common surname in early 20th-century Britain. Moreover, Eva represents the common people; however, the chain of events she experienced forced her to change her name and lose her identity. Renton has connotations of the verb “to rent”, which was a euphemism for prostitution at the time. Priestley uses the Inspector to show the audience how Eva Smith – a representative of the working class – was forced to sacrifice her morals and resort to prostitution to live. Social change is needed here: to construct a society where people can live and not be driven to last resorts – they should be able to seek help. The Inspector has Mrs Birling reveal her status on the Brumley Women’s Charity, where she states she helps “deserving cases” and Eva was not one. “Deserving” implies her help is subjective, and “case” is dehumanising and implies that Mrs Birling and other upper-class capitalists see working-class women as problems they can choose to solve or not. This is significant, and the Inspector states that “there are millions and millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths” with their lives, “hopes” and “fears.” Priestley uses these common surnames in repetition and polysyndeton to emphasise just how many people are dismissed and mistreated by the upper class – how many are not seen as “deserving cases.” This makes the audience realise just how important it is that they change their views. The Inspector finishes his final speech stating that if we don’t resort to socialism, we will be shown the consequences “in fire and blood and anguish.” This is dramatic irony for the audience, who are aware of the coming world war that Mr Birling in Act One dismissed, stating “The Titanic... unsinkable, absolutely unsinkable,” and “I say there isn’t a chance of war.” Mr Birling was portrayed as arrogant here; however, now the Inspector is shown as wise, as he knows what is to come, unlike Mr Birling. The triad of emotive language has many connotations. “Fire” suggests that without change, war will come and capitalist property will be destroyed. “Blood” has connotations of death and suffering, which the post-war audience would be triggered by as it is very fresh and emotional to them – they believe they must change to prevent more of this now. ‘Anguish’ has connotations of psychological pain caused by the impact of capitalism and the “chain of events” that led to the demise of the working class. Therefore, Priestley uses the Inspector as a symbol of socialism to present how much pain and horror it inflicts on the working people.

In conclusion, the need for social change is emphasised by the power of the Inspector, as he represents how individualism negatively impacts society and consequences of capitalist actions cannot be overlooked. War will come, and the impressionable post-war audience obviously never want war again, so are more willing to embrace social change, which is necessary for social reform and necessary in the process of accepting social responsibility – something Mr and Mrs Birling refuse as individualists.