This definitions covers Key Terms for Inspector Goole 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 11 of 17 in this topic. Make sure you can use the exact wording confidently, because definition marks are often lost through vague language.
📜 Key Terms for Inspector Goole
- Dramatic device
- A technique used by a playwright to achieve a theatrical effect. Inspector Goole is a dramatic device — his function (moral reckoning) is more important than his identity.
- Mouthpiece
- A character who expresses the playwright's own views directly. The Inspector is Priestley's mouthpiece — his speeches are Priestley's argument.
- Catalyst
- Something that drives a reaction without being changed itself. The Inspector catalyses the Birlings' confessions but is himself unmoved throughout.
- Stage directions
- Priestley's instructions for how the play should be staged. The Inspector's stage direction ("an impression of massiveness, solidity, and purposefulness") tells us he is a force, not a person.
- Aphorism
- A compressed, memorable moral statement. "We are members of one body" is an aphorism — designed to be remembered and repeated.
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]
Quick recall flashcards
Mnemonic for Inspector Goole's three functions?
MORAL VOICE → METHOD → MYSTERY. Moral Voice: his speeches deliver Priestley's thesis — 'one body', 'responsibilities as well as privileges', 'fire and blood and anguish'. Method: prior knowledge, forces confrontation rather than discovering facts, stages revelations strategically, targets the young. Mystery: no police record, name = ghoul, identity deliberately unresolved — to keep focus on moral question not detective question. All three functions make the same argument: Goole is Priestley's device for moral reckoning.
What are Inspector Goole's three functions in the play?
MORAL VOICE → METHOD → MYSTERY. Moral Voice: his speeches deliver Priestley's thesis directly — 'one body', 'fire and blood and anguish'. Method: he already knows the answers; his interrogation is designed to force confrontation, not discover facts; he controls who hears what and when. Mystery: his identity is never resolved — no police record, his name sounds like 'ghoul', he may be supernatural. All three functions point the same way: Goole is a dramatic device for moral reckoning, not a realistic character.