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How Priestley presents Inpector Goole as unusual in Act One Essay

Decent Essays

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 …show more content…

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, “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 “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

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