Why did the Book end so?

Who is the Inspector? (BBC 2015)

After the Inspector left the Birlings shocked, Gerald returned. What happened then was a complete twist in the story. They recognised, that the Inspector wasn't really a police inspector. Suddenly they noticed also, that the alleged Inspector could have shown each one a different picture of a girl. After the Infirmary confirmed, that nobody brought a girl, who committed suicide, in the last few months, Gerald and the couple Birling were relieved. But Sheila and Eric reminded, that they were only lucky that this suicide don't really happened. The others ignored them, but then the telephone rang. It was the Infirmary, that just a girl was brought in, who swallowed disinfectant. For me it was an unexpected but also a smart ending of the book. An open end of a book or a movie motivate me always to reflect the story more, than I would at a happy end. I think that John. B. Priestly wanted to teach the readers in each part of his interrogation another lesson. But as Gerald and the Birling couple were relieved, I think the author showed his own pessimism towards the society. As Eric and Sheila were reflecting their own actions, he showed, that he still has a little hope for the younger generation. In the whole book the Inspector wasn’t characterized, for me it was more the possibility for the author, to lead the readers trough the story. The phone call at the end gave the story a little surrealistic touch. I think Priestley used that as a dramaturgical tool, to destroy the new high feeling of the Birlings. For me the moral of the story was shown in a quote of the Inspector:

“One Eva Smith has gone - but there are millions and 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, and what we think and say and do. We don't live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other.”

 - the Inspector, p. 77 –

Words: 352 (without Quote: 296)