Compare And Contrast Eric And Gerald. Which Do You Consider To Be Most To Blame For Eva’s Death?
Eric and Gerald share similarities, the main one being that they both had a relationship with Eva. They also both gave her money and their behaviours went against the moral ‘code’ of the time. There are more differences however between the pair. Eric exploited Eva whereas Gerald ‘rescued’ her meaning that Eva meant different things to them. Whilst Eric made Eva worried, Gerald made her happy. During the Inspector’s interrogation, Eric illustrates socialist views, and also takes more responsibility whereas Gerald is more capitalist. Although Eric takes more responsibility during the cross-examination, Gerald took more responsibility during his relationship with Eva. Eric was less conscious of what he was doing at the time of relationship and seems to be less loyal towards his parents than Gerald. In addition to this, Eric did not arrange Eva again whereas Gerald did. Another difference between the two is that Eric offered marriage to Eva whilst Gerald didn’t even contemplate it. Gerald resists the interrogation and starts to fight back towards the end, dissimilarly though, Eric admits his bad actions almost immediately and repents. Finally, Eric drinks but Gerald is much more in control of himself. Through these differences and similarities, both Eric and Gerald moved Eva closer to her death as they both left her to cope on her own. Gerald started her decline and then Eric followed by capping it. Gerald broke Eva’s heart, and although this was not the case with Eric, he forced her into the relationship which may have made her feel awful. Eva experienced emotional damage as Gerald opened up her mind to possibilities that she couldn’t have. However, the final straw for Eva was when she found out that she was pregnant, and that Eric, the unborn baby’s father, had abandoned her. As a result of this, Eva no longer wished to go on and committed suicide. This leads me to believe that Eric is more to blame for Eva’s death.
