Inspector Goole
Act One
“Need not be a big man but he creates at once an impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness.” - Stage Directions.
This shows that the Inspector takes charge immediately from Mr Birling and remains in control throughout. Mr Birling attempts to regain control, but fails as the Inspector quickly regains his control back (The Inspector interrupts Birling ‘cutting through, massively’). Goole remains solid as each of them breaks down and nothing distracts him from his purpose. - Power.
"Two hours ago a young woman died in the infirmary" - Inspector.
The Inspector here is using very gruesome imagery but is also being quite vage as well. He seems to be brushing the subject aside as the way she died is not important or relevant to the Inspector's case. This shows that the Inspector is there for one reason, to find out who led Eva/Daisy to her death. - Power.
"One person and one line of inquiry at a time" - Inspector.
The Inspector hold power over the family and controls the pace of the play. This implies that socialist have more power and control compared to capitalists, this was also seen when the Inspector interrupted Mr Birling's capitalists speech conveying that the Inspector may not be a real person, but a figment of the families imagination. - Power.
"a chain of events" - Inspector.
This is a socialist idea, suggesting that everyone in some way is responsible for the death of Eva/Daisy. This quote also implies that the Inspector actually knows the full story but he wants to hear it from them as he already knows that everyone is responsible, suggesting that the Inspector is from the future who is trying to warn them of what's to come. - Mystery, Social responsibility.
"It's better to ask for the earth than to take it" - Inspector
The Inspector rephrases Mr Birling's words to mock his ideology and says it in a socialistic way. This shows how the socialist change the capitalists words to suit them. Priestly presented them in this way to show that if a capitalist says something the socialist will always bite back by rephrasing it to suit them more. - Context, Capitalist VS Socialists.
"I don't play golf" - Inspector
Mr Birling is trying to prove that he is better then the Inspector by bragging about his knighthood and the fact that he play golf (which is a very prestigious sport). This shows that unlike other men, the inspector is very different as he doesn't act or do any thing common men would usually do suggesting the inspector is from a different world. - Supernatural, power.
Act Two
"But she died in misery and agony - hating life" - Inspector.
The inspector here is trying to get the Birling's to feel guilty about their recent actions involving the death of Eva Smith. This also links to the fact that the Inspector is actually from the future who has come to warn the Birling's and to make them understand before the end. - Mystery.
"We often do on the young ones. They're more impressionable" - Inspector
This quote suggests that the Inspector worked in similar conditions and environments compared to the Birling's, also we can see that the Inspector is foreshadowing the fact that later on in the play it's the younger generation who heeds the Inspector's lessons not the older generation. This also suggest that the Inspector could be from a different world or the fact that the younger generation will grow to become socialists which is what we see at the end. - old VS young.
"Your daughter isn't living on the moon. She's here in Brumley too" - Inspector.
Mr Birling is trying to withhold the truth from Shelia to protect her form what she already knows. And the fact the inspector is bringing the Birling's down to earth highlighting how there's consequences for their actions, even for the higher class. - Social Responsibility.
"Public men, Mr. Birling have responsibilities as well as privileges" - Inspector
The Inspector is pointing out the fact that Mr Birling isn't who he thinks he is. He believes to be a 'Public Man' how ever the Inspector immediately contradicts it by explain what it means to be a 'public man'. This implies that Mr birling has no responsibilities over his own actions and because of this he doesn't even deserve the title of being a 'Public Man' as he isn't one. - Power, Social Responsibilities.
"She'd been turned out and turned down too many times." - Inspector
"Your going to spend the rest of your life regretting it." - Inspector
The Inspector is giving the Birling's a warning by saying that this moment will never be forgotten unloosed resolved, this quote also links to the idea that the Inspector is from the future and that he is trying to help the Birling's to sort out this issue before it even happens and to do that they have to be honest and own up to their mistakes. Priestly presented the inspector in this way not only to convey his message but to be this mysterious figure in the play that no one knows. - Social responsibility.
This is the point during the play when the Inspector starts to become quite aggressive towards the Birling's, and how he is resulting to using more gruesome language. Also since the moment the Inspector first entered he was beeping very simplistic with his words and was answering with one word only, now his wording is a lot more complex and is interrupting the Birling's sentences. This shows how much power the Inspector now has over everyone in the play and has become so terrifying that some of the character have had to leave as they couldn't handle the pressure. - Social Responsibility
Act Three
"There are millions and millions and millions of Eva smiths and John Smiths" - Inspector
"We don't live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other" - Inspector
"Good night" - Inspector
This shows how Eva was just one person out of millions of others who needed help from the people who can provide it, and what the Inspector is saying is to help the people and feel responsible for them. To back this up, he also generalises the name 'Smith' to represent a greater form of society in which we all live in. - Social Responsibility.
The Inspector is reminding the family about the need to support the wider community and how everyone should work together to build and form a better community. The alliteration justifies his point, making his speech sounding almost poetic. - Social responsibility
The Inspector leaves straight alway with out saying anything after his speech, as he wanted the Birling's and also the audience to really think about what he said. To back this up there is a few seconds of silence as the many driver of the play has left and all that remains is the capitalists. - Social responsibility.