Act 1 scene 1

Nobody knows who the actual inspector is. Almost every character in the play is willing to accept that Khlestakov is the government inspector, even if there is evidence that suggests otherwise. The tunnel vision of the characters leads to their downfall. It is young Marya who actually points out a couple of times that what Khlestakov is saying does not make sense—the authorship of a novel is one such example—and all of his other boasting makes little sense as well. The civil servants do not seek to probe these facts, though, so long as they are feeling successful with their "inspection."