This confirms that Sheila acknowledges her part in Eva’s death and reveals that she was responsible for getting Eva sacked because she acted out of motives of jealousy, petty spite and hurt vanity. Overall, Sheila abused her power as a daughter of a good customer to punish Eva for simply being prettier than her. Sheila shows a lot of remorse and is quick to take responsibility for her actions. She admits that she had no excuse for doing what she did and she was just in a bad temper. However, she would not have done this if the Inspector had not appeared.
Also, Gerald and Eric admit to their involvement with Eva and feel bad too. This shows that there is hope for the future and that there is more support of Socialism and the idea of helping others and not just thinking of oneself. The Inspector has effectively made Sheila face up to what she did and leaves her anxious. Similarly, he makes the others realise that they have made mistakes too.
Inspector Goole also interrogates Mr. and Mrs. Birling to make them feel remorseful and make them recognize their parts in Eva’s death. Mrs. Birling happens to realise her part in Eva’s death, which was that when Eva came to her and asked for charity money, Mrs. Birling insisted on not giving her any which left her poor with no food or shelter. Mrs. Birling is protective of her family, she does not criticise any of them and she also refuses to accept the blame for Eva’s death. ”But I accept no blame for it all” declared Mrs. Birling. Mrs. Birling feels little or no remorse about Eva’s death – in fact she refuses to take any responsibility. Likewise, Mr. Birling is unwilling to recognise his part in Eva’s death having sacked her because she asked for more money. The Inspector shows that the rich Birlings have done something wrong which would teach the audience that the rich can also make mistakes as well as the poor. Furthermore, the Inspector manages to make the audience think that Mr and Mrs Birling are unpleasant and merciless people. If he had not been there, we would never have known what the pair did.
Another role of the Inspector is encouraging the characters to give their personal opinions which are similar to those that other people would have had in 1912. Gerald states, “We are responsible citizens and not criminals”. This reveals what many people considered to be the case during 1912: They felt, like Gerald, that the poor were criminals and the rich were more responsible. The Inspector shows us that everyone does wrong and commits crime and that they should be equally responsible for it. During 1912, many rich people used to get away from trouble or problems by using their money and Priestley felt that this was wrong. By showing us this on stage, the audience would begin to question themselves and whether they deserved to get punished just as the poor do.
Mr. Birling also tries to intimidate the Inspector by telling him that Colonel Roberts is an old friend of his. For example, “Perhaps I ought to warn you that he’s an old friend of mine, and that I see him fairly frequently.” However, the Inspector ignores this threat and shows the audience that the Inspector wants the truth and is trying to get Mr. Birling to admit his guilt and confess his part in Eva’s death. He shows us that it shouldn’t matter what contacts a person has, which again affects the audience who may have tried to do the same as Mr Birling.
