How Priestley presents Inpector Goole as unusual in Act One free essay sample

?How Does Priestley Present the Inspector as an Unusual Policeman in Act One? The inspector is presented as unusual by his personality, conduct and expressed views. Throughout the act, Priestley makes the Inspector say and do things that an audience would not expect of a conventional policeman. A conventional policeman would be polite and professional. We would expect an Inspector to be discrete in his work as to avoid causing problems or drawing undue attention at the case and wrongdoings of the Birlings. He should be sensitive so he doesn’t offend anyone. A normal inspector would take suspects to the station and follow more conventional policing methods. The Inspector is not like the one described above. His personality is judgemental and he expresses opinions on the acts of others. When Sheila bursts out about the girls being people and not just â€Å"cheap labour†, the Inspector shows his agreement as he says â€Å"I’ve had that notion from time to time†. We will write a custom essay sample on How Priestley presents Inpector Goole as unusual in Act One or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Here he passes judgement on the way Birling treats his workers by suggesting that they are described as objects so often that he only remembers that they are people some of the time. In this way, the Inspector criticizes Mr Birling’s firing of Eva and makes his feel guilty. This is not the role of an inspector. He should be finding things out by asking questions and taking answers relevant to the case, not speaking his mind on social matters and making suspects regret their actions by telling them they’ve done wrong. The Inspector’s aggression makes him unusual. Rather than conducting the investigation in a respectful way, he takes the household by surprise and intimidates them with a vivid description of Eva’s death – â€Å"burnt her inside out†. He shocks them with this description to get their attention and make the suspect understand the severity of events. This is successful as he makes Eric exclaim involuntarily, showing how the Inspector wields the power of knowledge which he can use over them. Knowing things that one or none of the other characters know does not make the Inspector unusual but the way in which he uses the information he is privy to does. The example of making Eric exclaim, for instance, is not a normal course of action. A normal police officer would tone it down – at least to begin with – but this Inspector wants the suspects to understand the pain they caused Eva so he can make them feel emotions as a consequence of their actions. The Inspector is not afraid to question Mr Birling, despite being in his house and knowing he is a contender for a knighthood, about the way in which he runs his business. This isn’t normal police protocol and Priestley makes him do so to contradict Mr Birling’s earlier speeches. The Inspector also interrupts people with force, â€Å"you heard what I said before Mr Croft† is an example in which the Inspector stamps his authority on Gerald, using intimidation that one wouldn’t expect from a police officer. There is a dramatic example of this interruption which is the Inspector ringing the doorbell and making a noise which cuts Mr Birling off mid-speech. Priestley lets on that the Inspector is not a normal policeman through Mr Birling who says that he is a man-about-town and friend of the Chief Constable so he knows the Brumley Police Force, yet makes it clear that he does not know the inspector either by face or name. Birling â€Å"warn(s)† the Inspector that he is a friend of the Constable, a warming that may be a threat to the Inspector that he could get Goole fired. However, unlike a normal policeman, the possibility of losing his job does not deter the Inspector and he carries on as before. Priestley runs a supernatural theme through the Inspector. He gives the Inspector apparent omniscience and with that, huge swathes of power. The Inspector’s name is Goole, which sounds like ghoul – as in a supernatural being. When Birling asks the Inspector to repeat his name, the Inspector says it and then spells it out. This draws attention to it and suggests that he is not a normal policeman. Aspects of the Inspector’s language and behaviour mark him out as unusual. 24/30 A* (80’%)