İNGİLİZ/AMERİKAN EDEBİYATI II

Inspector Goole moves the plot forward as well as being the voice of the writer. Through Inspector Goole Priestly expresses his own opinions about some important issues like social classes and personal responsibilities one has towards others.

Inspector Goole is a mysterious character and he has many functions in the course of the play. He is described that he creates “an impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness.”

Definitely the Inspector makes things happen and he takes control of how things shape on stage just like he decides who to interrogate first. During questioning he is direct and he is found rude on some occasions especially by Mr. and Mrs. Birling. He is single minded and sure of what he is doing and what he will get at the end. Moreover, as mentioned before he seems to already know what the characters are going to reveal. In that sense, he becomes a mysterious figure; he is the one who makes the others confess their errors of mistakes. From the whole picture of the story, we can easily infer that he is not selfish.

Arthur Birling is the father of the family and he is described as heavy looking, portentous and in his mid-fifties. Moreover, he has a wife who is superior in social status. He is a successful businessman, a snob and a social climber. . This is an inference question and his actions in the play show that he is selfish and he is so worried about his own social status so he is NOT considerate.

Mrs. Sybil Birling is described to be in her fifties, icy and cold in her relationships.

The Inspector teaches Eric a lesson and he learns from it. He has our sympathy because he is the only one character who is left alone in the family.

Gerald is attractive, handsome, fashionable; well mannered. He is sure of himself and comfortable. Like Mr. Birling, Gerald does not see what he did wrong; similarly he tries to hide his relationship with Daisy from the Inspector. Like Mr. Birling he does not want a public scandal. After the facts are revealed and people learn what he did, he is the one who tries to prove that the Inspector is fake. By doing so, in a sense, he wants to make himself innocent and expects family members to see him as before. He does not understand and learn the lesson from the incident just like Mr. and Mrs. Birling.

Class system is one of the themes in the story.

Regarding the actions of the characters Priestley shows the concept of morality of the age through the Birling family and Gerald Croft. The only crime in the play is Eric’s stealing money from his father’s. However, what the characters do and how they take part in the death of Eva Smith is related to morality. In fact they did nothing illegal towards Eva Smith, yet they each acted immorally.

Eva is the representation of working class and she tries to survive under the
control of higher classes. Therefore, option D is not true.