Eric, shows he is uncomfortable in his surrounding, even though he is with the closest people around him he shows his uneasiness, “( who is uneasy, sharply) Here, what do you mean?”. His is very vigilant to what people say, and worries whether people are talking about, perhaps even laughing at him. He is said to be “half shy” and “half assertive”, we don’t really know what to make of him. He is in an “excitable, silly mood”, and is acting suspiciously and seriously.
Eric is a heavy drinker, Sheila knows that he does drink but nobody really knows to what extent. You can see Eric’s familiarity with “quick heavy drinking”; in the way he pours his whisky, this is when the other family members notice it too. His drinking problem could be due to the way his family and surrounding treat him. His dad seems to regret paying for his schooling- particularly when Eric makes comments that show sympathy for the workers instead of bosses, Mr Birling says angrily: “It’s about time you learnt to face a few responsibilities.”
The revelation from the inspector about Eric’s real social life and what he had got up to has made the family aware of the fact that Eric has been behaving in such an unruly manner. He sleeps with prostitutes, and in the case of Eva Smith had got her pregnant. He has also stolen money from the business, as he found he could not turn to his father to support him in his time of need. He is continuously treated as if he were insignificant, nothing he says is respected by the family and his opinion is not valued like how it is with Gerald.
Eric was an alcoholic, who slept with prostitutes, which makes him the villain -so to speak, but the audience is still led to sympathise with him, as he is a victim within his family. As he has no relationship with any body in his family, he resorts to drinking. Eric and Mr Birling’s “respectable” friends have also seen to go to these types of bars, such as Alderman Meggarty. Gerald has also has done the same. As they are wealthy businessmen nobody says anything, even though they treat women badly.
Mr and Mrs Birling don’t seem to care what there son has been up to and the reasons for his behaviour, they are more concerned with covering up a “scandal”. “I’m absolutely ashamed of you”, says his mother who seems to care very little about her son. Eric doesn’t have many friends, that could help him out or relate to him, and his family certainly aren’t on his side. Sheila seems to care about him but merely because he is in such a terrible mess.
His actions seem to be due to an isolated and unsupported childhood, brought up by the rules and regulations of such type of family. He is a product of a narrow-minded middle-class family, who don’t appreciate change or variation from the norm.
Eric in the frustration of the examining by the inspector and under immense pressure from bring found out shows his true colours to his family saying “You don’t understand anything. You never did. You never even tried”.
He gets the readers sympathy as he and Sheila differ from the uncaring and insensitive elders. He also seems to care more about the workers, and wants to do something to improve their standards. Unlike the usual businessman he cares about the people who work under the ruling body. He ultimately wants attention and care from his parents, which he doesn’t receive.
During the play Eric alongside Sheila realise their mistakes, and regret what they did. They wish they could put things right. We sympathise with both characters as they have shown to have remorse over their actions regarding Eva Smith. W e can hope that by acknowledging their mistakes they can learn by them and help to make a more fulfilling future for them.
After the Inspector is found to have been a fake, the Birling parents and Gerald remain unaffected by the night's events. Sheila points out that Birling doesn't “seem to have learnt anything.” Once they realise that there will be “no scandal” they try to turn a blind eye to the problems that have been identified. They ignore Eric's drinking problem and make little further mention of the fact that he stole a great deal of money from the family business. They ignore these problems because they are only interested in how they will look to other people. If nobody knows about their problems, they need not address them. This is proved when Birling says that there is a “difference between a lot of stuff like this coming out in private and a downright public scandal.”
Sheila has changed her attitude about how to treat people and is disgusted that her parents have not done the same: “it's you two who are being childish - trying not to face the facts.” Eric behaves much the same as Sheila. He seems to have respect for her because he does not directly argue with his parents about the way they are acting but instead supports Sheila in what she says by saying “Sheila's right,” and “I agree with Sheila.” He and Sheila are both there to give us hope for the future; the younger generation have better attitudes and can improve society. As the Inspector said, children are “more impressionable.”
“You lot may be letting yourselves out nicely,” Eric and Sheila do not pretend that nothing has happened although the rest of the family, would rather be over with the scandal. He regrets his actions, and acknowledges that stealing the money was not a good idea. He is deeply disturbed by the loss of Eva Smith due to their actions:
“Whoever that chap was, the fact remains that I did what I did. And mother did what she did. And the rest of you did what you did to her. It’s still the same rotten story whether it’s been told by a police inspector or to somebody else. According to you I ought to feel a lot better - I stole some money, Gerald, you might as well know - I don’t care let him know. The money’s not the important thing. It’s what happened to the girl and what we did to her that matters. And I still feel the same about it, and that’s why I don’t feel like sitting here and having a nice cosy talk.”
Although every single person is to blame, Eric seems to be the guiltiest, and his wayward behaviour makes him the villain; it would be easier to blame it all on him, so they do. He is showing regret for his actions and saying that it’s wrong to go about pretending as though nothing has happened when clearly something has. He is trying to make them see that they can change. We can only feel empathy for this type of character, as although he seems to have caused the most problems he regrets his actions and wants to try and change.
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 an unexpected twist. The fake Inspector was there to punish them on a moral level and to try and make them feel guilty enough to change their behaviour. This was accomplished with Eric and Sheila, but not with the others. The only thing that they would be affected by was a “public scandal,” and the real Inspector would ensure that that is what they would get. Without this twist, it would seem that the Birling parents and Gerald would escape unpunished.
