Sheila refuses to be treated like a child any longer. Sheila objects to her parents’ attempts to protect her from unpleasant truths; ‘…I’m not a child, don’t forget. I’ve a right to know.’ Sheila suggests that each of them has a similar right to know the truth. Sheila is not fully to blame, as each character has contributed to Eva’s death.
At the end of the play she feels that, whilst for a time it seemed as though they had learnt something about themselves and their society, once they saw a ‘way out’, they simply returned to how they were at the beginning. Sheila and her brother Eric represents the younger generation which Priestley hopes is still open-minded enough to learn to accept responsibility for others.
During the play, Eric is exposed as a drunkard, the father of the illegitimate unborn child, a liar, a thief and an embezzler. Eric met Eva in the Palace bar and went home with her afterwards. Eva and Eric became lovers and soon Eva got pregnant. Eva refused to marry Eric, because he did not love her. Eric gave Eva money to live on – about fifty pounds. However, this money was stolen from Mr Birling.
Eric seems hostile towards his parents, especially his father. This contrasts with his sister, whose criticisms seem more balanced and whose motives are easier to understand. Eric finds his father unapproachable and unloving. This may be why Eva treated Eric, as he admits, as if he were a ‘kid’ and why he responded to her pity. She may have recognised in him a need for affection that she herself shared.
Eric may be a weak and lonely figure, but he is capability of real feelings for others.
Eric has changed considerably during the play. Eric becomes a lot more responsible and mature, ‘whoever that chap was the fact remains that I did what I did’. Eric understands that whether there is or is not an Inspector nothing is any different. Eric accepts that what he did was wrong.
Mr Birling is a successful factory owner, Ex-Lord Mayor of Brumley and a local magistrate. He regards himself as reasonable and pays his employees no more and no less than the going rate. Eva was a ringleader in an unsuccessful strike for more money; she was sacked. Mr Birling claims that it is his duty to keep costs low and prices high.
Mr Birling uses the word ‘duty’ frequently. A duty is normally something people do for legal or moral reasons, something which bind them to their obligation. Birling has no legal obligation to keep labour costs down; presumably then he sees it as a moral obligation.
Mr Birling has little or no imagination and seems blind both to consequences of his actions, and to the events in the larger world. He makes predictions about the future – the unsinkability of the Titanic; the impossibility of war; and the promise of technology – which would have been believed by many in 1912, but which would have seemed laughably optimistic to the audience in 1945.
At no point in the play does Mr Birling take any blame for his actions, ‘I can’t accept responsibility.’ And I am ‘nothing whatever to do with that wretched girl suicide.’ He shows no remorse.
Birling is proud of his status; he and his wife set great store by his public offices and privileges. So sensitive is Birling about such matters that he feels a little uneasy about Gerald Croft marrying his daughter, sensing that Gerald’s parents may feel that their son is marrying ‘beneath himself’. At the end of the play the possibility that he may be deprived of his knighthood upsets him far more than anything else does.
Mr and Mrs Birling see themselves as upholders of all the ‘right’ values and of the guardians of proper conduct. But both are exposed as self-centred and essentially heartless. They begin to try and put the Inspector in his place, through emphasising their own position in society. Both try to hide, or hide from the uncomfortable truths. As Eric points out his father is useless in a real crisis.
It is plain that Birling’s motives are not to save Eric from being found out, but to protect himself from social scandal. To do this, he is prepared to he is prepared to distort or ignore the truth. He is blind to thus hypocrisy, and indifferent when it is pointed out. Just before the end of the play he argues that ‘the whole thing is different now’, and congratulates himself on having avoided a scandal. Provided their public reputation is safe, people like Mr and Mrs Birling will never change.
Mrs Birling is even more hard-faced and arrogant than her husband. She is introduced as his social superior and her manner indicates that she is very conscious of social position, especially her own. Mrs Birling also exploits her position in society to feel in control. Eva went for assistance when she knew she was to have a child. Eva went to the Brumley Woman’s Charity Organisation for help. The chair of the organisation was Mrs Birling, who ‘slammed the door in her face.’ Mrs Birling takes no blame at all for this ‘cruel and vile’ behaviour. She in response says, ‘I was justified.’
In act one, Sheila accuses her brother Eric of being somewhat drunk, ‘You’re squiffy.’ Mrs Birling’s reaction shows her sense of propriety, she feels that it was very inappropriate of Sheila to say that. Mrs Birling will not believe Eric drinks, ‘you don’t get drunk.’ She chooses not to accept that her son might have a drinking problem. Mrs Birling will not hear anything which could tarnish the Birling's image. She deliberately blind to anything she does not wish to see. She is in complete denial about Eric’s problem. Mrs Birling takes no responsibility for her children’s’ actions and therefore would not accept blame for somebody she does not know like Eva Smith.
Her concern – shared by her husband – that Sheila should not be exposed to ‘unpleasant’ things that suggests that she regards her daughter as a child. Mrs Birling does not want Sheila to hear the truth and tries to get her to leave the room.
‘You’re looking tired, dear. I think you ought to go to bed.’
It could be argued that Mrs Birling has good intentions and is protecting Sheila from the truth, however I do not believe this is the case. Mrs Birling has little respect for Sheila and thinks nothing more of her than a ‘hysterical child’. Mrs Birling is a very controlling woman, who does not like the fact that Sheila is developing her own opinions. Sheila sometimes behaves immaturely because she has been brought up without being allowed to develop her own opinions and personality. Only after the Inspector calls does Sheila realise that her mother is wrong. Mrs Birling is to blame for Eva’s death, as she is a controlling person who abused her power to deny Eva the help she needed. Perhaps only did why she did this, was because she could.
In the play each character uses language and speaks in a manner that helps to reveal his or her personality. In Mrs Birling’s case, her choice of words reflects her superior and snobbish attitude. Mrs Birling expects others to show her respect and to defer to her opinions. She resents being contradicted, even when caught telling outright lies by the Inspector. When exposed to criticism, Mrs Birling retreats behind words like ‘respectable’, ‘duty’, and ‘deserving’. She seems to feel that she is qualified to judge what such words mean.
Mrs Birling describes the inspector as, ‘ a trifle impertinent.’ The Inspector is of a lower class to the Birling family and Mrs Birling is obviously prejudiced against him. Mrs Birling uses complicated words to belittle the Inspector, she feels he should know his place. Mrs Birling treated the Inspector in a similar manner as she treated Eva. She could not see how the death of a ‘lower-class’ person could be of any interest to the Birlings. Therefore, Mrs Birling is partly to blame, as she did no give Eva any help or show any compassion because she was judgmental and prejudiced against her.
Mrs Birling accepts no blame for the death of Eva Smith at any point in the play. She is however willing to blame others. Mrs Birling firstly blames, ‘the girl herself’ and secondly ‘the young man who was the father of the child’. Mrs Birling is blind to the dramatic irony of what she is saying; she is condemning her so without even realising it. The Inspector calling had no positive affect on her at all. I think the Inspector’s call only served to harden her attitude.
In the play the inspector is portrayed as the voice for all Eva and John Smiths of the time. Society at the time of 1912 exhibited huge social divisions and for people like Eva Smith life was very hard.
The Inspector is an enigment figure. He neither changes nor develops but frequently repeats: ‘I haven’t much time. Inspector Goole’s name is obviously a pun on ‘ghoul’, a spirit or ghost. The stage directions talk of ‘an impression of massiveness, solidity and purposefulness’. There is an air of menace about him and, unlike all the other characters; he does not deviate from his moral position.
Sometimes the Inspector behaves as the voice of social conscience: ‘You see, if there’s nothing else, we’ll have to share our guilt.’ He points out that social responsibilities have become greater as privileges increase. Significantly, the Inspector himself neither forgives nor punishes. Each character is made to face up to the fact that they must find the courage to judge themselves: only then will they have learnt enough to be able to change.
The play points out the need for a sense of personal responsibility in every member of society. Responsibility not only for individual actions, but also for the way actions affect others. Different characters react to their guilt in different ways, when it is revealed to them. Not all show remorse or shame, and some are so hardened that they refuse to accept that remorse is appropriate. I can therefore conclude that society is to blame. In 1912 people did not care enough about one another.
