Priestley’s deliberate sabotage of Mr Birling’s speech is one that shows how this issue of social status stands in the mind of Birling. ‘…a man has to make his own way- has to look after himself’. Mr Birling believes in the fact that a man should be able to stand on his own two feet and look after number one then his family. Anyone who’s upper-class and cannot in the view of Birling should be ashamed. In the case of Eva Smith she’s a mere working-class peasant so doesn’t have the right to rights.
As long as the employer’s interests are satisfied then so will everyone else’s including that of the employees. ‘We employers at last are coming together to see that our interests- and the interests of the Capital- are properly protected’. It’s as almost as if Birling the ‘fat cat’ is giving the two finger sign to everyone else as he is a wealthy, respected man in his view of the upper-class so nothing else seems to matter. Even when the gruesome events are revealed to Arthur he thinks that he is perfectly justified in firing a woman who in his eyes was causing trouble for the company ‘She’d had a lot to say – far too much- so she had to go’. (more like she was going to cost the company money by influencing others into rebelling and costing the company even more money, if her campaign of higher wages was a success which, of course, Birling was not going to let into). His actions in not paying his workers just a few pounds more resulted, in the case, of Eva Smith, her death. This naivety seems to be common place in the Birling household
When it comes to society in the case of Sybil as wife and mother of a wealthy respectable family it’s almost to Mrs Birling her duty to keep it this way. Being brought up into an upper-class family her social values are probably no different to that of her parents and she does what she sees is right and when the inspector asks her a personal question she feels no shame. ‘...I did nothing that I’m ashamed of or that won’t bear investigation’. She, though, soon realises that her ‘duty’ in keeping this family respectable in upper-class society is soon shattered by the unfolding events of the night. ‘I must say, we are learning something tonight’. The blame that Sybil passes is soon quickly mentioned. The audience now knows that Sybil does not, like her husband, accept responsibility for the death of Eva and as such passes to what I think she thinks is a working-class boy who had got Eva pregnant. ‘Go and look for the father of the child. It’s his responsibility’. Her actions caused, then, the pregnant Eva to support the baby by herself with no financial help of any kind. She needed the money to live and also to support that of the baby.
Gerald Croft seems most definitely at the beginning of the play to agree with the ideas of the, industrialist, Birling. His father is in direct competition with Birling and as such knows a little about industry. He agrees entirely with Birling on the firing of Eva and sees it as perfectly justified his blame is entirely on that of Eva the working-class girl. ‘Hear, hear. And I think my father would agree to that’. His attitude and his social responsibility change as he learns of Daisy Renton his former mistress being indeed that of Eva Smith. He seems to shift the blame on himself rather than that of his former lover. ‘She didn’t blame me at all. I wish to God she had now. Perhaps I’d feel better about it’. As the audience learn more about that of Gerald the audience feel a certain pity at the real sorry ness that Gerald feels about Daisy/Eva over her death.
Eric and Shelia also feel remorse and not just anger at themselves but that of there parents after they find out that the inspector wasn’t really an inspector and it was to them some sort of hoax. Shelia feels responsible for what she has done and doesn’t agree with her father that these are just some sort of working-class peasants. ‘But these girls aren’t cheap labour-they’re people’. Eric also feels remorse and agrees with the view of the inspector ‘It’s what happened to the girl and what we all did to her that matters’.
In conclusion all the characters within the play have some form of responsibility for what they have done in the chain of events of the life of Eva Smith. Some of the characters have accepted responsibility and really feel remorse, Shelia. Others such as, Birling, who alongside with Mrs Birling accepts no personal responsibility and blames it socially on another class and as such stick to there own self-absorbed upper-class ways. But can one really blame them? After all the audience will be able to see that Mrs Birling has done wrong but she can’t. It’s the way in which she has been brought up on these social values, almost like I’m better than you, she’s been taught that she is better than the working-class as she is more respected and has more money. So has more power than the rest of them.