This deep dive covers Function 1: THE MORAL VOICE — What Goole Says Is the Play's Argument within Inspector Goole (character) for GCSE English Literature. Revise Inspector Goole (character) in An Inspector Calls for GCSE English Literature with 12 exam-style questions and 15 flashcards. This topic shows up very often in GCSE exams, so students should be able to explain it clearly, not just recognise the term. It is section 2 of 17 in this topic. Use this deep dive to connect the idea to the wider topic before moving on to questions and flashcards.
🎭 Function 1: THE MORAL VOICE — What Goole Says Is the Play's Argument
Priestley constructs the Inspector not as a detective solving a crime but as a spokesperson delivering a verdict. His two major speeches — "We are members of one body" and the warning of "fire and blood and anguish" — are the play's thesis, spoken directly. No other character gets speeches of this weight or clarity.
The Inspector's language is unlike anyone else's in the play. Birling is verbose and self-congratulatory; Gerald is evasive; Sheila is increasingly direct but emotionally present. Goole speaks in aphorisms — compressed moral statements that land like court verdicts. Priestley gives him the register of a judge, not a detective.
When the Inspector says "Public men, Mr Birling, have responsibilities as well as privileges" (Act 1), he names the play's structural argument in one sentence. Priestley uses this line to establish immediately that this is not a conventional detective story — it is a moral reckoning, and the Inspector knows the verdict before he begins the interrogation.
Quick Check: Why does Priestley give the Inspector aphorisms ("We are members of one body") rather than arguments?
Priestley constructs the Inspector's language as moral law, not personal opinion. An aphorism cannot be argued with — it states a principle as if it were self-evident. Priestley needs the Inspector's thesis to feel irrefutable, not debatable. The compressed declarative form also signals the Inspector's function: he is not presenting one man's view; he is delivering a verdict on behalf of a principle. Goole is a device for stating what Priestley believes cannot be disputed.
Practice questions for Inspector Goole (character)
What does Inspector Goole's name suggest to the audience?
Explain one technique Priestley uses to make the Inspector a powerful moral and dramatic force in An Inspector Calls. [2 marks]