We also see an example of his ignorance through the speech he makes on the celebration of Sheila’s and Gerald’s engagement, “... a man has to look after himself - and his family too, of course...” This gives the impression of the selfishness and also greediness of him. The timing of the Inspector’s entrance is immediately after Birling has made this speech.
The Inspector’s aim in the play is to change thoughts and opinions of the Birling family, through pressuring enquiries and guilt. One of the ways he attempts to do this is by questioning each one of the Birling’s in turn.
The majority of the play consists of the Inspector questioning each of the characters in turn and listening to their stories, but he also tries to change their thoughts and opinions of the situation.
The Inspector firsts questions Mr.Birling, asking him why he dismissed Eva Smith from his factory, after all she did was ask for a raise. Birling seems shocked at being questioned and replied that it is his 'duty to keep labour costs down' which indicates that he does not think of each worker as a person and cares a great deal about money. He argues that he sacked Eva Smith because she was one of the ringleaders of a strike over their pay. As he shows no guilt on sacking Eva, the audience will mostly respond by thinking he is thoughtless and only cares about making money for himself. Arthur thinks his position is a high, dominant one because he is very bossy and thinks he can take control of everybody else.
Sheila feels a lot of sorrow for Eva Smith being sacked she says, ‘’I think it was a mean thing to do. Perhaps that spoiled everything for her.’’ Meaning that if Mr. Birling hadn’t of sacked her then maybe she wouldn’t have committed suicide.
Sheila quotes 'these girls aren't cheap labour - they're people', this implies that she is very moral, and has completely different views from her father. She then herself goes on to be questioned by the inspector and after revealing her story, she quotes 'So I'm really responsible?' this shows that she can admit when she is wrong, unlike her father. The Inspector probably thinks more highly of her than Mr Birling now and maybe secretly has taken a liking to her, because they seem to have the same sort of views and thoughts on the situation.
After this scene the audience should like Sheila to an extent now, because she has come across as the more considerate and kind one of the play.
At the end of this act Gerald is shown begging Shelia not to tell the inspector what he did and Shelia tells him and laughs, “You fool, he knows…”. Stating that the Inspector somehow already knows what they have all done, adding to the suspicion of the Inspectors Identity and if infact he really is a real inspector. Sheila is aware of the mystery surrounding the Inspector, yet realises that there is no point in trying to hide the facts from him.
The Inspector says that sheila is only partly responsible and later on, when he is about to question Gerald, he encourages her to stay and listen to what he has to say so that she doesn't feel entirely responsible
As well as the inspector, Sheila plays a big part in the questioning of Gerald and is angry at his unfaithfulness. The Inspector treats Gerald with neither liking or dislike. Gerald claims that “nearly any man” would have “adored” the fact that he “became at once the most important person in her life”, and uses this to defend his actions. He was the love of her life, but she was not the love of his.
The Inspector is aware that 'he at least had some affection for her and made her happy for a time.'
As Mrs. Birling wasn’t in the room for a lot of the earlier questioning she doesn’t know of the Inspector's abruptness. She describes him as 'a trifle impertinent'. Like her husband, Mrs Birling is used to being treated with respect and is unhappy with the way the Inspector is talking to her, though he is simply treating the characters as they did Eva Smith.
We can see she becomes more and more annoyed as when the Inspector says, 'You're not telling me the truth', she replies 'I beg your pardon!' She seems horrified by the way she reacts that somebody could speak in that way to a lady of her class. Her behaviour shows how full of arrogance she can be.
However, she is desperate to put the blame onto someone else, and first focuses on the unknown person that was the father of Eva Smith’s child. The Inspector, only reveals the identity of the father, Eric, after she had down talked him as much as possible. When she did find out it was Eric, she is keen to forget her earlier comments, and make sure they were forgotten, but Sheila does not allow her to.
As for Eric he is the more immature character, half shy and half assertive. He was associated with Eva due to his relationship with her. He continued to see her before she told him that she thought that she was pregnant. Though she did refuse to take any stolen money of Eric and she also refused to marry Eric, which would have been the right thing to do in them times. It was considered very wrong to steal from anyone, let alone your own family and was extremely frowned upon in society.
Eric though, like his sister, continued to feel guilty after hearing of Eva’s death from the inspector. This shows that even though Eric did a lot of things wrong, he did try to do what was morally right afterwards.
Each of the characters has shown to have done things to Eva that were wrong. However, Sheila and Eric are the most regretful and seem to have learnt from their mistakes and immediately become more likeable and seem less at fault. Especially Sheila, as not only is she prepared to admit her faults, she also appears eager and keen to change her behaviour in the future, 'I'll never, never do it again'. She learns of her responsibilities to others less fortunate than herself in the community and is sensitive. Her keenness to learn from the experience is a big contrast to her parents
The Birling parents represent the older people in society, as after all that has happened they have failed to change their views. The author here may be implying that it is the younger generation that offer hope for society.
Sheila is unable to accept her parents attitude and is stunned and alarmed that they haven't learned anything from the incident. Although the Inspector might be a hoax, the family have still behaved in a completely horrible way.
The play finishes with a telephone call from the police saying that 'A girl has just died.... after swallowing some disinfectant' and a real Inspector will question the family. This is not expected and maybe the fake Inspector was there to punish them on a moral level and to try and make them feel guilty enough to change their actions. We cab see this worked with Eric and Sheila, but not with the others. The only thing that they would be affected by was a 'public scandal,' and a ruin of their reputation.
