Mrs Birling always felt justified about her actions. She proved this to herself by saying “I think she had only herself to blame”. She always wants to pass the blame onto someone else and does so at every chance she can. She only tries to pass the blame onto other people so she can feel good about herself and doesn’t have to feel guilty.
In Sheila’s speech on page 59 she says, “mother hardened her heart and gave her the final push that finished her”. I agree with this statement, as it is very true that she was “the final push” as she was the last one to ‘throw her to the curb’ and that she “hardened her heart”, she did this by making Eva feel unwanted by everyone and not even the people who are supposed to belong to a charitable organisation would help her, so there was no-one left to save her from the cruel world. It must have been hard for Eva to lower herself to the level of seeking help. It was Mrs Birling’s reaction that made all the difference.
Because of all of the other characters’ contributions, being rejected by the Brumley Women’s Society was the final straw and this was all down to Mrs Birling’s influencing the committee to refuse her.
When the Inspector says, “was it or was it not your influence” she was ‘stung’ by his manner and felt she had to speak the truth.
Although he obviously doesn’t completely get through to her, she is beginning to feel scared of him and this makes it able for him to ‘get the truth out of her’
She is always very stubborn about her point. This is because it makes her feel justified. This quote from page 47 proves it by her saying, “therefore you are quite wrong to suppose I shall regret what I did”. This makes her feel as though she is putting down the Inspector which she likes doing as she thinks she is a better class than him. Also her quote on page 44 is claiming her authority and denies her guilt.
She often thinks that because of her class she is superior to other people, so when Eric told them about Eva not wanting to take money from him as it was stolen, she thought that as Eva was from a lower class she would want to take all of the money she could.
She was also furious and shocked about Eric taking the money and that he had to pay it back immediately.
She passed the blame onto the father and started saying about how “he’d be entirely responsible - because the girl wouldn’t have come to them (Brumley Women’s Society) and have been refused assistance if it wasn’t for him” and that “he ought to be dealt with severely” this is showing her lack of compassion, putting the blame on someone else and ridiculing her own son.
These are all of the reasons I think Mrs Birling is the most responsible for Eva’s death.
Next in my line of blame is Eric. This is because he got her pregnant and used her. Therefore he should have a large amount of responsibility for her death.
Eric Birling
Eric is in his early twenties, not quite at ease, half shy, half assertive,
Eric went to the Palace Bar “one night last November” and met Eva first there. He described her as not the “usual sort”. This showed that he had been there often and knows about what type of person goes to the Palace Bar - “women of the town”.
He “insisted to go to her lodgings”. This would have meant he insisted by “threatening to make a row” so she let him in as she didn’t want her landlord to kick her out as she would be on the streets.
He made up excuses by saying “I was in the state when a chap easily turns nasty”. This really wasn’t a good excuse and it was all down to the fact he was ‘under the influence’ and he even admitted he was drunk to the Inspector by saying, “I was a bit squiffy”.
He obviously forced himself on her, which was probably what led to unprotected sex, which later led to an unwanted pregnancy.
When he mentioned that she refused to take any more money from him he had to admit to his father that he had stolen the money from the office, but as when the Inspector said, “you stole the money?” he answered “not really”. This shows he didn’t see it as a bad thing and didn’t think it was a big deal. This is the exact opposite to how his father saw it; he was absolutely furious and forgot about the whole Eva situation and just thought about how Eric had to pay the money back.
He proves that he used her by saying, “I wasn’t in love with her or anything - but I liked her - she was pretty and a good sport” it also shows that she gave him a lot of sex as he calls her a “good sport”.
He reproaches his father, as he doesn’t want to be seen as a child any more. When Mr Birling says, “Why didn’t you come to me when you found yourself in this mess”?
Eric answers “Because you’re not the kind of father a chap could go to when he’s in trouble” this is very brave of him.
When the Inspector says on page 55 “Your mother refused that help” he gets very angry with her and starts shouting “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 grandchild - you killed them both - damn you, damn you”. This shows how he thinks that she is the most responsible for her death and then says, “You don’t understand anything. You never did. You never even tried” this shows something must have happened in the past to make him think she never understands anything.
These are the reasons I think Eric is very responsible for Eva’s death.
I think Sheila Birling and Mr Birling are the next to be blamed for her death as Sheila used her power to see that Eva got kicked out of her job just because she was in a bad temper and Mr Birling was the first person to reject her.
Sheila Birling
Sheila is a pretty girl in her early twenties, very pleased with life and rather excited
When shopping in Milwards she tried on something, which her mother had been against but she tried it on anyway. She saw Eva “smiling at Miss Francis - as if to say ‘doesn’t she look awful’ - and I was absolutely furious”. She said she was in a “furious temper” because of this she “went to the manager at Milwards and told him that if they didn’t get rid of that girl, I’d never go near the place and persuade Mother to close the account with them”.
This shows that she was very stubborn, wants everything her own way all the time and got into a bad temper very easily.
That is why I think Sheila Birling is more responsible than Gerald Croft and deserves a large amount of the blame.
Now I will argue why Mr Birling is quite responsible for her death.
Mr Birling
Mr Birling is a heavy-looking, rather pompous man in his middle fifties with fairly easy manners but rather provincial in his speech.
I think Mr Birling deserves a small amount of blame because he was only the start. He fired her and was the trigger of her horrible life and death, so he should have some responsibility.
He was the trigger that led to her death two years later. As the Inspector called it he was the beginning of a “chain of events”.
Mr Birling never wants to give in. This is shown by when there was a strike in August after the workers had come back from their holidays because “they were averaging about twenty-two and six and they wanted twenty-five shillings a week”. Mr Birling said, “I refused of course” which shows that he is very stubborn to his point, it also shows that more than anything he is determined to get his knighthood, be wealthy and have Gerald Croft as a son-in-law - just so he could have wealthy, better class in-laws.
He only fired her because she was one of the “ring leaders. He “went down himself and told them to clear out”. He thought she had “far too much to say” this was meant that for a girl of her class she shouldn’t have been so mouthy to people in higher classes.
He doesn’t ever feel guilty about her death and when the Inspector goes he even finds ways of proving his innocence so as not to feel guilty at all. He proves that he has no concern by saying, “I told the girl to clear out, and she went. That’s the last I heard of her”. What he is saying is that when she left he had nothing else to do with her so it wasn’t his business anymore.
These are the reasons that I think Mr Birling is quite responsible for the death of Eva Smith and why he should have quite a lot of blame put on him for her death.
I will now argue why Gerald Croft should have the least blame if not any at all put on him for the death of Eva Smith.
Gerald Croft
Gerald Croft is an attractive chap about thirty, rather too manly to be a dandy but very much the easy well-bred young man-about-town.
I don’t think Gerald really should have any responsibility or blame put on him because he was Eva’s ‘knight in shining armor’ when she needed someone the most. He saw her being cornered by Alderman Meggarty and took her to the County Hotel and talked mostly about herself. Then as she had almost no money and was about to be kicked out of the “miserable little backroom she had” he put her up in “Charlie Brunswick’s set of rooms in Morgan Terrace”. This made her feel he was her “fairy prince” and he enjoyed it for a while.
She said he was the best thing that ever had happened to her and that “there’d never be anything as good for her”. This is why I think that Gerald Croft isn’t at all responsible for her death.
Conclusion
So in conclusion whilst all of the characters contributed in one way or another to the death of Eva Smith, Mrs Birling was the catalyst, so she killed herself after a life of misery. So I conclude that Mrs Birling is the most responsible for the death of Eva Smith.