Analysis of Arthur Birling's Character in An Inspector Calls
An inspector calls Arthur Birling was a rich man and only seemed to care about his family and how well his business was progressing, in other words how much money he was earning. He didn't care about any of his workers, and didn't know them at all, as it quotes in the book, 'I have a couple of hundred workers under me, who keep changing' (Act 1, page 12, line 16.) Therefor this shows that there was no personal relationship with Arthur Birling and Eva Smith until after the strike. Arthur Birling states that all the workers had just come back from their holidays and had become very restless, and then just decided to demand for a pay rise or they would go on strike. Of course he denied it, so all the workers wouldn't come back. After a while they were all begging to come back because they were becoming poor, so Arthur Birling let them all back and fired the ringleaders, one of whom, Eva Smith. Eva Smith was now out of work for two months, and was earning no money. She hadn't any savings so she became half starved. Also both her parents were dead so they couldn't offer her help. This may be another reason why she committed suicide, maybe because her parents were dead also. She had few friends who couldn't help her, and she was feeling very upset and ill. So to round up the events linked between Arthur Birling and Eva Smith, I would say that even though the fired her, it isn't the end of the world, and she is cable of finding another job as we find out later.Sheila Birling, the daughter of Arthur Birling, understands the effect she had on Eva Smith. Whilst one dayat Milliards, Sheila was experimenting with some dresses and hats, and she new very well they didn't suit her so she asked Miss.
Francis how it should be worn. Miss. Francis asked Eva Smith to put it on and show Miss. Birling how it was worn. Sheila saw Eva Smith laughing at her, so Sheila was very rude to them both and then went straight to the manager and complained that Eva Smith was being very disrespectful and impertinent. She said that if Eva Smith was here the next time Sheila walked into the shop to buy clothes, she would walk out immediately and never shop there again, and tells her mother to close her account with you. It seems a pathetic reason ...
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Francis how it should be worn. Miss. Francis asked Eva Smith to put it on and show Miss. Birling how it was worn. Sheila saw Eva Smith laughing at her, so Sheila was very rude to them both and then went straight to the manager and complained that Eva Smith was being very disrespectful and impertinent. She said that if Eva Smith was here the next time Sheila walked into the shop to buy clothes, she would walk out immediately and never shop there again, and tells her mother to close her account with you. It seems a pathetic reason to be sacked, but customers and clients always come before the assistant. As they say, 'The customer is always right!' I think that Sheila was jealous of Eva Smith, so just to show off her power, she got her sacked from her last decent job. Being fired from your last and second job is very painful. All these incidents are adding up, and resulting in an enormous and heart breaking situation at the end. Gerald Croft has a large contribution, as he had an affair with her and just abandoned her when he felt like it. It all started when he saw her one night at the stalls bar in the Palace Theatre, and started talking to her because she was being harassed by a large fat man, that Gerald knew. After awhile Gerald persuaded her to come back to Gerald's, just too talk, as friends! So she did. Two days later when they met again, on purpose this time, he found that she was completely penniless, half starved and no whereto live, probably because she couldn't afford the rent in her old placement. So Gerald allowed her to move into an apartment, which his friend had trusted him with, while Gerald's friend was away on business in Australia. A couple of days went by, and Gerald was going around to the apartments often to see Eva, and things progressed to Eva becoming Gerald's mistress and Gerald being the most important thing in Eva's life. Eva was madly in love with Gerald, but knew herself that it couldn't be, as they were both from very different classes, but she still loved him. He didn't feel the same way as Eva felt about him, because it quotes this in the book. If she ever found out that Gerald didn't love her, her heart would be broken once again! Gerald eventually ended their relationship, but it was no surprise, as Eva already knew that this situation would occur sometime or other. Since there was no relationship anymore, Eva had to move out of the apartment, and she went to live at the seaside. She said she needed to live there where it was quiet and she had time to think about everything that has happened. I don't think Gerald had a great part to do with Eva committing suicide, as she had already knew at the beginning that their relationship wouldn't, and couldn't be! So it wasn't much of a shock to her. The only bad thing that Gerald has done was being unfaithful to Sheila Birling, so I don't think that Gerald pushed her into the path of committing suicide. Mrs. Birling is very strict and snob like, she also doesn't care about anybody else, just her self. She is a member of the 'Brumley Women's Charity Organisation'. Eva Smith went to this society for help. When she arrived there, Mrs. Birling asked Eva her name, and she replied, "Mrs. Birling". The real Mrs. Birling got very angry with this, and thought that the girl was being cheeky, so Mrs. Birling had the power to dismiss Eva Smith plea for help. Now that Eva Smith is gone, Mrs. Birling still won't take any responsibility for Eva Smith's death.Eric Birling is the last person to be interrogated by the inspector and we instantly know that he is the father of Eva Smith’s child. Eric Birling is a drunken, misunderstood youngster who really is not seen by his parents as anything. Eric had also had a fling with her, and he admits that he wasn’t in love with her or anything. Eric helped the young girl as much as he could, but she refused to marry him, but she didn’t love him enough to marry him. Still, Eric wanted to help her so he offered her money that was stolen from his father’s safe, that he claims he would pay it back, in time. Of course, she didn’t take it because she knew that it was stolen. This was the last point in Eva Smith’s life that she could take. Having a child with no husband and no Job! S she took her own life. The mystery of the Inspector’s identity is one that the play never answers. One answer is of course is that he is a dramatic device; without him the play could not happen. But given that the other characters are all believable and realistic, audiences often want to ask about the reality of the Inspector too. It is Gerald who discovers that the Inspector is not who he says he really is. He helps the Birling's unpick the Inspector’s story of the girl until there seems to be nothing left of it. Sheila and Eric hang on to the conviction that “it was anything but a joke” while accepting that there may have been more than one girl and that no girl may have committed suicide. Personally, I believe that the creation of the Inspector by Priestly was to portray a personal message to all the readers, that we are all equal and do not rise above one another. The Inspector’s words echo Priestly’s own thinking. Also that Eva Smith represents a personal message also. She represents all working class girls who become exploited by surrounding people who think they are better than she is. I also believe that the Inspector is supposed to be the characters guilty conscience. I have come to realise that during the play, Sheila had changed the most in her attitude to life and others. At the beginning she was very stubborn and she acted like a ‘spoiled little brat’, but towards the end of the play, she became the most sensible one out of all the characters. The Inspectors goal was to make all of the characters feel guilty for what they had done to Eva Smith, and he was very successful in doing so, as he had turned the family against each other and upside down. I'm not sure if he meant to do that purposely, but he made them think about life and how one action, can make a lot of difference. As we can see each one took part in her death, but which one has the most to do with it. Unlike their parents, Sheila and Eric feel guilty about what they have done. They wished that they could turn the clock back and stop it from happening. Both Mr. Croft and Mr Eric Birling try to help her and take responsibility for what they had done, but the others didn't try to help her even though the had the chance. I would say that Mr. and Mrs. Birling are more responsible for her death because they had her fired from her jobs and then refused her help when she needed it the most. Also Mr. Birling and Mrs. Birling are the parents of Sheila and Eric, so that's where Sheila and Eric probably get their pride, jealousy and stubbornness helped a young girl to commit suicide. I am not saying that Eric and Gerald didn't have anything to do with her death as they contributed but I think that those three hold a little more guilt than others do. By Emma Crawley 10sb
