There are many different factors involved in the death of Eva Smith. But the question is who was to blame.

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There are many different factors involved in the death of Eva Smith. But the question is who was to blame.

Mr Birling was the first person in ‘an inspector calls’ who we are led to believe started off the train of events that ultimately led to the death of Eva Smith. I don’t believe that Mr Birling did anything wrong towards Eva Smith after all the only thing he did was sack her from his factory after she started to cause trouble demanding higher wages. Any man in his position would have done the same. She was making trouble as Mr Birling said, ‘She had a lot to say- far too much so she had to go’.

   Although I don’t consider Mr Birling did anything wrong concerning Eva he does not come off well throughout the play as he shows himself up a number of times because of his personality. The major fault in his personality is that he seems to show no remorse for Eva who after all was a person. He seems to be a very hard man, and shows no regret for dismissing her, despite knowing that if he had not then she may still have been alive. He simply stated that, ‘If you don’t come down sharply on some of these people they will soon be asking for the earth.’

   Mr Birling always seems to want his own way and if he does not get it he resorts to threatening behaviour which makes him unpopular with the audience. When Mr Birling felt that the Inspector was asking too many questions Mr Birling says about the Chief Constable, ‘ Perhaps I ought to warn you that he is an old friend of mine.’  Even before the Inspector had arrived we see Mr Birling in an unfavourable light. For instance in an attempt to be intelligent he says things that we know to be completely untrue such as describing the Titanic as ‘Completely unsinkable’ and saying ‘the Germans don’t want war.’ We see none of Mr Birling’s good traits instead we see him as a dishonest, cold hearted man who thinks he knows everything. I think that Mr Birling’s character is portrayed in this way because then it doesn’t matter that his part in Eva’s death was so small and understandable.

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   Sheila was the second person that the Inspector turned on and her part in the run up to Eva committing suicide shows her in an unfavourable light also. This is because she turned on Eva because she was jealous of her. Sheila mistakenly used her position to turn Eva out of a job. She even admits, ‘It was my own fault’, and that she ‘was in a furious temper.’ She was jealous of Eva Smith, describing her as a ‘very pretty girl too- with big dark eyes.’

   Although her actions do show her to be a ...

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