Who is to blame for Eva Smith's death in

Alex McGahey 11P

“An Inspector Calls”

J.B. Priestley

Who is to blame for Eva Smith’s death in “An Inspector Calls”?

John Boyton Priestley was born in Bradford, Yorkshire, in 1894 and sadly, his mother also died that same year. When Priestley left school he already knew he wanted to be a writer, but he wanted to experience the “real outside world” to draw upon for inspiration. We could perhaps comment on the fact that Priestley’s loss of his mother could be linked with the premature death of Eva Smith in “An Inspector Calls”.

Evidence is given quite early on in the first act of “An Inspector Calls” to suggest that the play was set in the past to allow J.B. Priestley to “let Mr Birling lead himself up the garden path in historical predictions, and show him to be wrong in his whole outlook on the world”. It could be argued that the most important theme of “An Inspector Calls” is responsibility which can be described in two ways – each of the Birlings and Gerald Croft’s own personal responsibility for Eva Smith’s death or how the cause of her death would affect their social responsibility.

In September 1910, Eva Smith was sacked by Mr Arthur Birling, owner of the company she worked for, Birling & Co. We can describe Mr Birling as a self-important and pompous man who is driven by his own interests. It is proved in “An Inspector Calls” that Mr Birling is a self-important person as he sees the engagement of his daughter, Sheila to Gerald Croft as a good business deal for himself. He was unsympathetic towards Eva when she demanded higher wages to simply live off and retaliated by sacking her and when Inspector Goole tells him of Eva’s suicide he accepts no responsibility whatsoever.

This is a preview of the whole essay

After Eva was sacked by Birling & Co., in December 1910, she was employed by Milwards, a shop often visited by Sheila Birling, the daughter of Arthur Birling. In late January 1911, Sheila visited the shop on a day when she was clearly not in a very good mood and claimed to have seen Eva laughing at her while she was trying a hat on that she didn’t look very good in. Sheila immediately took offence and demanded to have Eva sacked and threatened to never enter Milwards again if the owner didn’t do so. The owner of Milwards decided to let Eva go as the Birlings were known to be some of the best customers they had. However, when the Inspector explains to Sheila about Eva’s death she is deeply affected by him and takes responsibility for her actions, which she feels incredibly guilty about. She tends to side with the Inspector and his beliefs throughout the play and it is clear she would’ve gone to all lengths to find out the truth. She also tends to try and look on the bright side of things but she is very honest and lacks the cold-blooded attitudes of both her parents.

In March 1911, Eva Smith became Gerald Croft’s mistress and he had a similar outlook on her suicide as Mr Birling. He comes from a very rich family and comes across as being rather spoilt. However, he does come across as being slightly calm and confident, but he was the first person to think of a way out. He tries to lie to cover himself by at first denying ever meeting Eva, but later admits the truth to the Inspector and the Birlings. In early September 1911, Gerald broke off his affair with Eva Smith and provided her with some money to get by on for the time being. After he broke off their affair, Eva left Brumley for two months.

In November 1911, Eric Birling met Eva Smith while he was drunk. He persuaded her to stay and talk to him and to keep him company for a while as he said he was lonely. A month or two later, Eva discovered she was pregnant, carrying Eric Birling’s child. However, Eric takes great responsibility for Eva Smith’s death and seems to have learnt a lot by the end of “An Inspector Calls”. Also, Eric comes across as being a drunk, a liar and a thief as he stole money from his father, Arthur Birling so he could provide some support for Eva and their child. However, he does this in a very sneaky way and lies to cover his actions. He can also be described as being weak and lonely but he is capable of expressing his real and true feelings.

In late March 1912, Eva visited Mrs Birling for help to support her and her unborn child, but when asked by Sybil Birling what her name was, she answered by saying it was Mrs. Birling. This made the real Mrs Birling extremely angry and she refused to help Eva Smith, not knowing that Eva was in fact carrying her grandchild. Mrs. Birling can be described as being hard-faced and arrogant. She thinks she is superior because of her social status and can also be described as coming across as “snobbish” as she judges others by their class. She is blind to the needs of others, which is proved when she turns down Eva’s application for help.

The reason for Inspector Goole to visit the Birling household was simply because he wanted to find out the truth of how Eva Smith’s life came to an end in this way. He believes in finding out who is really to blame for her suicide and comes across as being intimidating to find out the truth. He also believes in justice and that the Birlings seem to take and not give. He thinks the Birlings think too highly of themselves and less about others. The Inspector’s views apply to the whole of society and not just the Birlings. He believes the Birlings should stop lying to themselves and he wants them to face up to the truth and start afresh and he believes they should all share guilt. If it weren’t for Inspector Goole, the details of Eva’s death and the connection the Birlings had to her would never have been revealed.

The Birlings and Gerald Croft all use their social class to their advantage at some point during “An Inspector Calls” and somehow look down on those of a lower class. Arthur Birling sacked Eva from his company as he couldn’t put up with her demands for higher wages, Gerald Croft thought he could have an affair with Eva and see her when he pleased, but decided to end their affair and concentrate on his fiance Sheila Birling, who demanded Eva was sacked from Milwards because she Eva looked better than her in a

hat she liked and Sheila claimed to have seen Eva sniggering at her. Sheila thought Eva had no right to do this as she was of a higher social class than Eva herself. Eric stole money from his father’s company when he found out Eva was carrying his child, which was the easy way out and Mrs Birling looked down on Eva and regarded those of a “lower” social level as “beneath” her. She “accepts no blame at all” for what she has done and feels no guilt whatsoever for Eva Smith’s suicide.

In “An Inspector Calls”, Priestley portrays the older generations as having a more arrogant outlook towards Eva’s fate than the younger generation. The younger generation, which is Sheila and Eric Birling take full responsibility for their actions whereas, the older generation accept no guilt, blame shame or responsibility for what they have done to Eva.

I think Priestleys main aim in writing “An Inspector Calls” was to make the audience more aware of the social responsibility of one another and the welfare of others around us, especially those less “well-off” than ourselves as in “An Inspector Calls”, it is clearly proven that each of the Birlings and Gerald Croft were selfish and unaware of the fatal outcome. However, Mr and Mrs. Birling show they only think about themselves and how much Eva’s death will affect their social responsibility, which each person involved with Eva Smith should have thought about before their actions took place. Although Mr and Mrs. Birling refused to accept any blame for Eva’s suicide, Gerald was not much better than these two as he just wanted everyone to forget about it and move on and he wanted to think of a quick and easy way out of the situation, but Eric and Sheila Birling accepted they had done wrong and immediately showed a sense of guilt towards the results of Eva’s death and they were both prepared to face the consequences of what bot themselves and their family had done to Eva, even if it would affect the social position they were both in. Sheila and Eric were both extremely affected by Inspector Goole, as were Arthur and Sybil Birling, but Sheila and Eric were affected by extreme guilt and shame for their actions towards Eva whereas Arthur and Sybil are affected by the Inspector in a different sense as they are forced to face how Eva’s suicide will affect their social responsibility.