When the inspector first asks Mr Birling whether he knew an Eva Smith, Mr Birling only admits that the name is familiar to him. He later reveals that he in fact remembers her quite vividly.
“Yes I do. She was one of my employees and then I discharged her” (p.13)
Mr Birling addresses the inspector in quite an informal fashion, and also offers him a drink in a friendly manner, which the inspector is not impressed with, reminding Mr Birling that he is ‘on duty’ and should not drink. Inspector Goole straight away indicates how serious he is and lets Mr Birling know that he is not going to be easily bullied and dominated. When inspector Goole informs him about Eva’s death, Mr Birling does not seem too bothered about the death of a former employee, and doesn’t see what it has to do with him; “ Yes, yes. Horrid business. But I don’t understand why you should come here, Inspector-“ (p.12)
As the interrogation continues, Mr Birling begins to get more and more frustrated with the inspector and his accusations. When Mr Birling asks the inspector what he has to do with it all, the inspector replies by saying.
“Because what happened to her then may have determined what happened to her afterwards, and what happened to her afterwards may have driven her to suicide. A chain of events” (p.14).
Here the inspector is suggesting that if Mr Birling hadn’t sacked Eva Smith then she may have not ended up talking her own life. Mr Birling denies any responsibility for what has happened to Eva after he sacked her. He believes he is innocent and that her death can not be related to anything he has done to her. He does not agree with the inspector and his way of thinking and shows this when he says.
“Oh well – put it like that, there’s something in what you say. Still, I can’t accept any responsibility. If we were all responsible for everything that happened to everybody we’d had anything to do with, it would be very awkward, wouldn’t it?” (p.14).
Although Mr Birling’s actions may be justified from a business point of view, and are also backed by Gerald, I don’t think that he was right in sacking Eva. Because he sacked Eva Smith, a simple working class girl, who only wanted a small pay rise to make her life a bit more comfortable, he must shoulder some of the responsibility for her death. She was turned out of a job, living rough and did not have much hope for the future.
Luckily she managed to get a job at Milwards Department Store, and this is where we learn of Sheila’s involvement. It was whilst Sheila was trying on a dress at Millwards that she came into contact with Eva.
“When I was looking at myself in the mirror I caught sight of her smiling at the assistant, and I was furious with her. I’d been in a bad temper anyhow” (p.23).
Sheila was simply jealous, the dress looked much better on Eva than it did on her and Sheila could not have this. So, in order to get back at Eva, Sheila threatened the manager of the store by telling him she would have her mother’s account closed down unless something was done about Eva. She used her power and her family name to get Eva sacked from her job. This was an act in retaliation of an angry and jealous woman, with no thought as to the consequences. Sheila shows by this action how childish and irresponsible she is.
When the inspector turns his attention to Sheila, she has no recollection of the incident and doesn’t even start to think that she could have had a hand in the whole affair. This indicates that Sheila never thought her actions at Milwards would ever escalate to the point of driving someone to suicide. Once Sheila realises that she was the cause of Eva being sacked from another job she is horrified and ashamed of her actions
“ It didn’t seem to be anything very terrible at the time. Don’t you understand? And if I could help her now, I would“ (p.24)
Sheila shows she is sorry for what she has done, and she shows remorse in her response to the inspector’s questions. This is the reaction Priestley wants to get from his audience. He wanted people to feel sympathy and care for each other and take responsibility for their actions.
Sheila also learns that the inspector knows a lot more than he is letting on and tries to get the others to tell the truth, ” You mustn’t try to build up a kind of wall between us and that girl. If you do, then the inspector will just break it down. And it will be all worse when he does” (p.30).
In a short space of time, Sheila’s character has ‘grown-up’. She can see that her family is wrong in their ways, and that they have committed terrible crimes against Eva Smith. Perhaps Sheila deserves more blame than her father because unlike him she did not have a valid reason for getting Eva dismissed from a job. Sheila accepts responsibility for what she has done and by doing this feels that she is the reason why Eva has died. Sheila dwells on this when she says, “So I’m really responsible? (p.23)
Sheila also shares the inspector’s view, that we are all responsible for one and other, and shows this when she condemns her parents for washing their hands of the responsibility.
From being sacked at Millwards, Eva is left with nothing again; she is right back where she started. That is until she meets Gerald Croft (Sheila’s fiancé) under the pseudonym of ‘Daisy Renton’ at The Palace Bar. He took her under his wing and put her up in a house left to him by a friend. It is here that Gerald leads a double life, seeing Eva all through the summer, but also at the same time maintaining a relationship with Sheila. Gerald, although unfaithful to Sheila, is not seen to be doing any wrong by Eva, as the inspector recognises when he says “Nor that young man Croft, though he at least had some affection for her and made her happy for a time” (p.56).
Although Gerald is seen to have done well in all this, he could be guilty of building up Eva’s hopes and then destroying them just as quickly. Although giving her a roof over her head for a short time, he has not helped her in any other way and did this for selfish reasons. When Gerald broke it up with her, it would have shattered all her hopes for the future and driven her closer to the point of suicide. There is evidence of this when the inspector recalls what happened to her just after the split.
“She kept a sort of diary. And she said there that she had to go away and be quiet and remember ‘just to make it last longer’. She felt there’d never be anything as good again for her - so she had to make it last longer” (p.39).
The inspector (or Priestley) does not seem to think that Gerald bares much responsibility for Eva’s death, although Eva would have been distraught after losing him, and I wonder how much of an effect this would have had on her. Gerald Croft is quite a pompous, arrogant character and I think that this is to demonstrate the arrogance of upper class people during the time. He is very wealthy and probably thinks that he can just buy his way out of any trouble. He also thinks that Sheila will stay with him, despite his affair with Eva, another example of his arrogance.
Eva meet Eric at The Palace Bar, where he ‘stood her a few drinks’, after which he followed her home and forced himself on her, insisting to go in. It is then that he effectively rapes her. Eric meets up with Eva on several other occasions and they begin to form a casual relationship. Eric sleeps with her quite often and also offers her money, which he has stolen from his father’s company.
“Well she hadn’t a job-and didn’t feel like trying again for one – and she’d no money left – so I insisted on giving her enough money to keep her going - until she refused to take any more“(p.53).
Eric is very irresponsible in his actions, drinking and stealing money from his father to fund his relationship with Eva. To make matters worse he discovers that Eva is pregnant with his child. Eric, maybe in panic, asks her to marry him but Eva does not want to marry. This may show some responsibility on Eric’s behave, but despite this Eric has now given Eva an even bigger problem; she is a single pregnant woman and cannot cope with it.
When the inspector questions Eric, he does not want to face up to the facts. He is ashamed of his actions but feels that he has been betrayed by his mother and takes out his anger on her by saying:
“Then - you killed her. She came to you to protect me – and you turned her away – yes, and you killed her – and the child she’d have had too – my child – your own grand child – you killed them both – damn you – damn you-“ (p.55)
Eric also tries to shift the blame over to his father, accusing him of not being “the kind of father a chap could go to when he’s in trouble” (p.54).
Eric is frantic; it has suddenly dwelled on him just how much trouble he is really in, and so begins to blame other people for the way ‘he’ has behaved. His mother was largely responsible for the demise of Eva and Mr Birling doesn’t come across as being the best father he could have been. It is likely that Eric would have been thrown out on his ear if he had told his father. I, however, believe Eric is sorry for everything he has done, he now realises just how irresponsible he has been and is aware of all the problems he has caused as a result of this. To try and redeem himself Eric offers to pay back all the money to his father, but still does not openly admit to any responsibility.
To seek help with her problem, Eva turns to the ‘Bromley Women’s Committee’ as she does not want to take any more stolen money from Eric. It is at this point that the character Sybil Birling, wife of Arthur Birling, falls into the plot. Sybil Birling, as head of the Brumley Women’s Committee, is the most influential member of the Board when deciding on each appeal put forward. Mrs Birling turns down the appeal of Eva who at first calls herself Mrs Birling, as this is Eric’s surname (unbeknown to her that the head of the committee is also a Mrs Birling). This does not go down well with Mrs Birling. Mrs Birling also thinks that Eva’s appeal is not satisfactory and that is why she felt it necessary to use her power over the other committee members and her position on the Board to turn the claim down.
“If you think you can bring any pressure to bear upon me Inspector, you’re quite mistaken. Unlike the other three, I did nothing I’m ashamed of or that won’t bear investigation. The girl asked for assistance. We were asked to look carefully into claims made upon us. I wasn’t satisfied with the girl’s claim – she seemed to me to be not a good case – and so I used my influence to have it refused. And in spite of what’s happened since, I consider I did my duty” (p.44).
Mrs Birling shows no sign of regret for her actions. She admits to using her power and position to influence the other committee members in refusing Eva’s case. Mrs Birling had the last say over Eva’s life and could be said to have ‘finished her off’, committing the final crime against her which led to her killing herself.
“But remember this: One Eva Smith has gone – but there are millions and millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths still left with us, with their lives, their hopes and fears, their suffering and chance of happiness, all intertwined with our lives, and what we think and say and do. We don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other. And I tell you that the time will soon come when, if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish “ (p.56).
This is the Inspector’s closing speech. Priestley uses him to voice his opinion to the audience and society as a whole at the end of the play. The speech sums up the whole feeling of the play and the intended message. Mr and Mrs Birling, with their
old-fashioned ways and outdated values do not learn anything from the whole experience. Sheila and Eric however, do.
The responsibility of the death of Eva Smith is shared between all of the characters, although in varying degrees. Eva Smith is ultimately responsible for her own death because she committed suicide, but the fact still remains that others who had an influence in her life eventually drove her to it.
It is because of this, that I believe that Mrs Birling holds most of the responsibility. She was the last person Eva came to for help when she needed it most. She had the chance to help Eva but refused her appeal and therefore put the final nail in Eva’s coffin. She shows no remorse for doing this to Eva and is not ashamed of her actions. Although it could be said that Mr Birling started the whole affair when he sacked her from her job, this does not make him responsible for her death. By the time Eva came to Mrs Birling, she had nothing and was also pregnant.
