Even so, what Mr. Birling did to Eva Smith was pure cruelty. Mr Birling owns Birling & Company, a successful business that provides him and his family with luxuries, and one which employs several hundred workers. All of these workers earn the average twenty-two shillings a week. Yet, Eva Smith yearned for more than the average amount of shillings; she wanted twenty-five shillings a week. Mr Birling refused this request in order to keep labour costs down. He stated that it was a free country: “We were paying the usual rates and if they didn’t like those rates, they could go and work somewhere else” (top of page 15).
And because of that, the matters got much worse for Eva Smith. Many of the workers went on strike, and eventually after a few weeks, the workers ran out of money to support themselves, therefore leading to the closing stages of the strike. All of the workers were accepted back to Birling & Company and continued earning their old rates, except for the few workers that began the trouble. Mr Birling decided to discharge the leaders of the strike, so they wouldn’t cause any more trouble for the company. This left Eva Smith with nothing: no money, no job, and no place to go.
When Mr Birling found out about what had happened to Eva Smith he refused to assume responsibility because he thought that what he did would be what any other company would do. Unlike the rest of the family members, he felt no guilt at all for not helping Eva Smith; this is shown at the end of page 70 where Mr Birling says: “But I’d a special reason for not wanting a public scandal just now. (Has his drink now, and raises his glass) Well, here’s to us. ”, which Sheila responds to: “Everything we said had happened really happened. If it didn’t end tragically, then that’s lucky for us. But it might have done”. Worst of all, Mr Birling only cared about his family’s public image: “there’ll be a public scandal – unless we’re lucky – and who here will suffer from that more than I will?” (Top of page 58). Mr Birling was only concerned about this matter because it would be all over the papers, and it would affect his chance of being knighted.
In conclusion, I can say that Mr Birling is the character that emerges least well from his involvement with Eva Smith. This is shown when we see that Mr Birling has the same attitude before and after the Eva Smith incident. Even though Mr Birling started this chain of events, after knowing everything that Eva Smith has been through because of his family, he remains to be the same portentous, self absorbed and arrogant man that he always has been. All Eva Smith wanted was a few extra shillings, but Mr Birling refused and made her pay a heavy price for that desire. This play shows us that there are many poor people, especially girls, that are dying all the time, and people like Mr Birling, who have the advantage of being upper class and can afford certain luxuries, should be willing to help.
