We dont live alone We are members of one body We are responsible for each other And I tell you that the time will soon come when if men will no learn that lesson then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish ID: 613606
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Slide1
Inspector Goole
“We
don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other. And I tell you that the time will soon come when, if men will no learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish
.” Slide2Slide3
The
timing of his entry (noted by Eric).His asking Birling why he refused Eva's request for a pay rise.His statement that it is his duty ‘to ask questions’.
His saying that he never takes offence.His statement that he does not see much of the chief constable.His failure to be alarmed by Birling's threats.His
reply to Birling's question ‘You sure of your facts?’ ‘Some of them – yes’. Not all, because not all have happened yet: Eva Smith has not yet killed herself, it would seem.His concern for moral law, not for criminal law.His statement ‘some things are left to me. Inquiries of this sort, for instance.’
Sheila's recognition of his authority and supernatural knowledge - as shown in her warnings to Gerald and to her mother.His statement about the impression he has made on Sheila: ‘We often do on the young ones.’
Inspector Goole’s IdentitySlide4
His
impatience to ‘get on’ with his questioning followed by his statement that he hasn't ‘much time’. A police officer would take as much time as was needed. It is as if he needs to finish before the moment at which Eva will decide whether or not to end her life.His
saying, ‘I don't need to know any more’, once he has shown the Birlings and Gerald what each has done.His final speech, which has nothing to do with criminal law, but which is a lecture on social responsibility and the perils of ignoring it.The Birlings' discovery that no such officer is on the local police force.
The Inspector's telling Sheila there is ‘no reason why’ she should ‘understand about’ him.Eric's saying ‘He was our police inspector all right’ followed by Sheila's comment ‘Well, he inspected us all right.’
His foreknowledge of Eva's death.His intimate knowledge of Eva's life, despite the fact that he never spoke to her.His prediction of a massive social catastrophe (‘fire and blood and anguish’) which clearly refers (for the Birlings) to the First World War and (for the audience) to both World Wars
.Inspector Goole’s IdentitySlide5
In the 1954 film adaptation, the Inspector does not leave the Birlings' house: he is left alone in Mr. Birling's study; Birling returns to ask him a question, and finds the room empty.
Is this too blatant a way of suggesting that the Inspector is some kind of supernatural or angelic being? Some commentators on the play have suggested that his name contains a pun - it sounds like ‘Ghoul’. A ‘ghoul’ is an evil demon, which eats the flesh of the dead, or, metaphorically, a person obsessed by, or who profits by, another's death.
After he has gone the Inspector is said by Birling to have exploited Eva's alleged death to frighten the ‘victims’ of his supposed practical joke. Is it more important to know who the Inspector is, or what he has to say? Should Priestley (the playwright) have made him more obviously spooky?
Inspector Goole’s IdentitySlide6
One Eva Smith has gone - but there are millions and millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths still left with us, with their lives, their hopes and fears, their suffering and chance of happiness, all intertwined with our lives, and what we think and say and do. We don't live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other. And I tell you that the time will soon come when, if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish. Good night.
What are the key words in the speech?
What do they represent? Symbols
MotifsThemesSlide7
Dramatic Reading
Choose two words that stand out in your line and repeat them as they are read aloud. What is the effect of performing the speech like this? Has it changed the meaning of the speech in any way?Slide8
An Inspector Talks
What is noticeable about the way in which the Inspector speaks?How has language and structure been used to make the speech look like it is part of the conversation?Slide9
Speech Analysis
One Eva Smith has gone - but there are millions and millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths still left with us, with their lives, their hopes and fears, their suffering and chance of happiness, all intertwined with our lives, and what we think and say and do. We don't live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other. And I tell you that the time will soon come when, if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish. Good night.
What techniques are used in the speech?
What did this language suggest to an audience in 1946? What about an audience now?Slide10
What do the following lines and stage directions suggest about
Goole’s character?
MRS BIRLING: You seem to have made a great impression on this child, Inspector.
INSPECTOR: (coolly) We often do on the young ones. They're more impressionable.
BIRLING: (
angrily, to Inspector) Look here, I'm not going to have this, Inspector. You'll apologize at once.
INSPECTOR: Apologize for what – doing my duty?MRS BIRLING
:
(
severely
)
You're
behaving like an hysterical child
tonight.
A
nd
if you'd take some steps to find this young man and then make sure that he's compelled to confess in public his responsibility – instead of staying here asking quite unnecessary questions – then you really would be doing your duty.
INSPECTOR
:
(
grimly
) Don't worry Mrs Birling. I shall do my duty. (
He looks at his watch
.)
MRS BIRLING
:
(
triumphantly
) I'm glad to hear it
.
INSPECTOR: No hushing up, eh? Make an example of the young man, eh? Public confession of responsibility – um? MRS BIRLING: Certainly. I consider it your duty. And now no doubt you'd like to say good night.INSPECTOR: not yet. I'm waiting. MRS BIRLING: Waiting for what?INSPECTOR: To do my duty.
INSPECTOR: No. she told me nothing. I never spoke to her.
GERALD: (showing annoyance) Any particular reason why I shouldn't see this girl's photograph, inspector?INSPECTOR: (coolly, looking hard at him) There might be.
INSPECTOR: (sternly to them both) You see, we have to share something. If there's nothing else, we'll have to share our guilt.SHEILA: (staring at him) Yes. That's true. You know, (she goes close to him, wonderingly) I don't understand about you.INSPECTOR: (calmly) There's no reason why you should.
BIRLING
:
Perhaps I ought to warn you that he's an old friend of mine, and that I see him fairly frequently. We play golf together sometimes up at the
West
Brumley
.
INSPECTOR
:
(
dryly
) I don't play golf
.
BIRLING
:
I didn't suppose you did
.
ERIC
:
(
bursting out
) Well, I think it's a dam' shame
.
INSPECTOR
:
No, I’ve never wanted to play.Slide11
Inspector as a Mouthpiece
Do we all have a social responsibility?
How could the Inspector be serving as Priestley's mouthpiece?Mouthpiece = representative, agent, ambassador, messengerSlide12
In his final speech, the Inspector tries to show how both the First and
Second World Wars, which had just ended when Priestley wrote the play, were the result of attitudes and behaviour shown by powerful and wealthy families like the Birlings.This may explain why all the worst features of such families seem to be present in the Birlings: they represent the worst qualities of their class.Has Priestley made the play’s argument and message more convincing by the inclusion of such people in it, or are they too awful to be believable?Slide13
Choose one of the following topics, and write an essay (
3 PEELAs) about it:Who or what is Inspector Goole?Why did Priestley choose to present him as such?What purpose does it serve in the overall play
?How is our view of the Inspector's statements affected by his apparently supernatural character?Could the statement “we are members of one body” be a hint to his identity?How does Inspector Goole deliver J.B. Priestley’s opinions and beliefs?
What effect does the Inspector have on the Birlings and Gerald?How does he find out the truth?Who was Priestley aiming the play at?
Playwright / character
Technique, methods, choice of language
Purpose of using the technique
Show
…
Deonstrate...
Symbolise...
Enhance...
X
uses
Y
to
Z
.