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- Assertive
- Authoritative and imposing
- Omniscient - seems to know what the Birlings are going to say before even they do
- Relentless and calculating
- Sombre presence in contrast to the Birling family's when he first arrives - he is able to control the mood and atmosphere through his language
- Unsettling
- Conducts himself in a manner unsuitable for a police inspector
- Creates an air of uncertainty
- The engine of the play - keeps the inquiry running, forces characters into confessions
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- Priestley's spokesperson - portrays Socialist ideas through the criticism of how the Birling family allow the class system and lack of social responsibility to effect their lives
- Emotive - emotive language makes the characters feel upset, thus evoking emotions from the audience
- Harsh tone - unsparing blunt, makes the character he is interrogating feel guilty
- Shock tactics - puts pressure on characters to force a confession from them
- Personal - talks about taboo subjects (prostitution, alcoholism)
- Blunt - forces the characters to answer him
- Binary opposition to Birling - before the Inspector arrives, the audience already become wary of Birling and his short-sighted opinions and incorrect observations about society (the Titanic sinking, WW1) and so are more inclined to disagree with him and agree with the Inspector, allowing Priestley to promote socialist views
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- The Inspector is classless
- Promotes Socialist ideology
- Most evident in final speech - not just talking to the Birling family, but the audience too
- Not impressed by Birling's 'connections'
- Treats everyone the same
- Challenged the privacy of the 'private sphere' through his omniscient traits
- Brings up actions the family may have conceived as 'private'
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- "It's the way I like to go to work. One person and one line of inquiry at a time. Otherwise there's a muddle"
- "A chain of events"
- "If she leaves now, and doesn't hear any more, she'll feel she's entirely to blame, she'll be alone with her responsibility"
- "If there's nothing else, we'll have to share our guilt"
- "You've had children. You must have known what she was feeling. And you slammed the door in her face|
- "There'll be plenty of time, when I've gone, for you all to adjust your family relationships"
- "There are 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, with what we think and do. We don't live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other"
- "Remember that. Never forget it. But then I don't think you ever will"
- "They will be taught in blood and fire and anguish"
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