Eva Smith/Daisy Renton’s Diary.

September 1910

I have just returned from my time in the country to a huge disturbance among the workers at Birling & Co. this was very surprising as I was very happy with my job and I believe my supervisor was also very happy with my work, as I was told that I was to be promoted by one of the other girls who was close to the foreman. But many of the other girls had decided that the twenty two and six they were getting was no longer enough and I agreed with this because it was enough to buy the essentials with and kept us healthy but it left room for little else such as social events.

Unfortunately I decided to go with the group of girls who were going to confront Mr Birling and ask him for more money so I volunteered and a group of about five or six of us marched towards his office. This moment was almost the most nervous I have ever experience. I had never met Mr Birling before but I knew that he had been the mayor here in Brumley and so I thought that he would be no pushover and it would take some convincing before a man like Mr Birling would loosen his purse strings.

How right I was, we asked for the pay to be risen to twenty five shillings a week and he just refused point blank and left no room from discussion, so we went on strike. Because we weren’t working we were earning no more money and we could not last much longer as we had just spent a lot of money on our summer break. Mr Birling knew this and he waited us out until we could last no longer and so we returned to the factory to begin working again at the same rate as before. But Mr Birling was not happy with simply beating us he wanted to make an example of us to reinforce his message of ‘this is my factory you will abide by my rules’. So he fired me and accused me of being a ringleader of it all. He is a condescending, pompous, rude old man and I should have expected no less from him.

Where was I now? Jobless, money less, and probably soon homeless.

November 1910

I can’t take this any more I have no job and therefore no money, I can’t see where my next meal will come from. I am lucky if I eat more than once a day. I have no family that could help me and I do not know what I can do. Losing my job at Birling & Co was the worst possible thing that could of happened to me. I’m desperate I must do something before I starve. The lodging I live in are adequate for just keeping me alive but they have nothing more to offer than four walls and a roof which leaks when it rains.

This is a preview of the whole essay

I have been looking for work since I lost my job at Birling & Co as I had little money due to the fact that I was sacked recently after the summer break and so I had little money. Fortunately I for me and unfortunately for others there is a case of influenza sweeping through the city and it has taken staff from a high-class clothing shop called Milwards so there are now some openings for sales positions and as long as my present luck turns around I may be able to land myself a job there. It would be so good to get a job I have been out of work for two months now and I can no longer take it I need money and a sense of self reliance. I got an interview at Milwards on Monday, that was more than I was expecting as I didn’t look like a woman who would work in a high class shop like Milwards as I am not exactly the picture of health but I think the make up I was wearing helped to cover that up.

I got it , I got it. Finally my luck has turned around and now I can get some sort of stability and self-respect in my life.

January 1911

My job is going excellent and I have made some great progress in my time at Milwards. I have made some friends and at this job I can afford to go out and have a good time with them, one friend in particular is Miss Franciss she helped me in the period when I wasn’t quite sure about where things went of how to do something and I would have found my job a lot harder if it wasn’t for her. Looking back on it if I hadn’t lost my job at Birling & Co I may never have gotten this job and so it was a sort of blessing in disguise that I was sacked. But I could have done without the two months of despair in between. I have a place in the world now and I would be happy to stay there until the end of my days.

Today I turned up for work as usual and the manager confronted me and told me that a customer had complained about my work and told me I must leave. I had no idea what I had done wrong and then I remembered an incident that had occurred the day before. A woman had came into the shop with her mother and had asked to try on a dress. This was against the advice of her mother and Miss Franciss but she was determined to try on the dress. She looked wretched in the thing and so I tried to compose myself but I just couldn’t do it and I let out a small snigger unfortunately she saw this in my reflection in the mirror and didn’t look to happy about it. To make things worse I was told to hold up the dress to make it look as if I was wearing it and it looked a lot better on me than it did on her. I saw her eyes fire up with jealousy and anger.

She must have been the one who complained about me and lost me my job. All for the sake of a little snigger, it seems a little petty but I can see no other reason for my dismissal.

My life has fallen back into the meaningless sham it was before and if I cannot find another job I do not think I could stand any more time feeling that desperate.

February 1911

I have sunk lower than I ever thought I would sink. I am way past the level I was after I was sacked from Birling & Co. I have demoralised myself to the state where I now have to support myself by picking up men in the palace bar. I hate this life and would gladly swap it for the one when all I was poor and hungry. I must get out of this life I have humiliated and demoralised myself far too far and I can’t go along with it much longer I need a different way of supporting myself.

March 1911

Today I was in my usual place in the palace music hall and a fat oaf I later learned was Joe Meggarty was trapping me between his own fat body and a corner. I couldn’t escape until I saw a gentleman who I have never seen before in the palace bar and he had a kind face. He moved towards me and joe and whispered something in his ear I couldn’t quite hear what it was but it seemed to make the fat, drunk man standing in front of me go away, for which I was very grateful. This man told me he was named Gerald Croft. I told him my name well I told him my name was Daisy Renton but I didn’t tell him what I was doing in the palace bar but he may have realised as the palace is known for being filled with girls of the town. We made a great bond and stayed together for the rest of the night talking for a long time. He bought me food and drinks and I felt the best I had in a long time.

I met Gerald again today and I accidentally let it slip that I was desperately poor and was about to be evicted from my well I wont call it a house it’s more of a big box with a door on the front, just a few steps up from a shed. He was amazingly kind about this and he’s letting me stay in his friends house until I get myself sorted out he also gave me some money. He is like my knight in shining armour.

June 1911

My life is great again. It lacks the property of my self-reliability that when I had a job as I am a kept woman and have been for a long time now but I am in love with Gerald and will not leave him because I want a job. Today I bought a new dress and it looked brilliant. I am going out with Gerald tonight and I am looking forward to it very much as I have not seen him for three days now. He says things are very busy at work.

September 1911

I think that Gerald is going to break it off with me soon I don’t want this to happen but it was inevitable. I have gotten back on my feet and saved some money from my money Gerald gave me. I have been living very economically apart from a few things.

I was right Gerald broke it off today and I was even hurt less than I thought I would be but it still hurt a lot. He offered me money, I didn’t want to take it but he insisted and I took it to please him. I think he only offered me it to help clear his conscious to make him believe he had helped me. He gave me enough money to last me until about the end of the year. It was nice of him to do what he has done for me after all I would probably still be sitting in the palace bar or something worse, but I whish it didn’t have to end.

I’m going to go to the seaside soon to remember my time with Gerald and get away from some awkward memories.

November 1911

My time at the seaside has been fantastic I swam in the sea, made friends and had an all round great time. But all god things must come to an end. I’m going to move back to Brumley soon. I still have a lot of money left and it will be a lot of time before I begin to get desperate again. I’m going back to Brumley tomorrow.

I returned to Brumley a few days ago and already I have met a man his name is Eric Birling. I met him in the palace bar. I seem to have a lot of luck in that bar. Eric was a little drunk but he seemed very nice we went back to my house. He left and I never saw him for another two weeks but we talked some more and I found out a little about him. He is the son of the Mr Birling who sacked me but I will not hold that against him. We went back to my house and made love again. Eric has been giving me money and I have found out that he is stealing it from his father and I don’t want him to give me any more.

I’m pregnant from Eric and I am very worried. I told him and he offered to marry me but I just told him that I didn’t love him and after all that was the truth. He took it well but he decided to give me some money and I have found out that he is stealing it from his father and I don’t want him to give me any more. We parted ways and I have never seen him since. I am now pregnant and have nothing to do. I’m starting to get desperate again and I need help from somewhere.

January 1912

My life seems to have a pattern it gets good it gets bad it gets good it gets worse then it gets good again but this time the bad part is almost impossible to bear and I cannot do it myself. I need help. I have decided to go to a committee and ask them for help.

Today I went to the committee and I asked for their help. They asked me my name and foolishly I said Mrs Birling when I knew that the woman who had asked me was really Mrs Birling. It was a foolish mistake and I thing think that is why I was denied help. One woman seemed very compassionate towards me and I thought she would get me the help I needed but Mrs Birling used her influence to make the other members of the committee to vote against me and therefore doomed me to the lowest part of my life ever.

March 1912

I can’t take it anymore I have only one way out if I give birth to my child it will suffer just as much as me and I could not do that to my child. All I want is for it to end all the hunger, poverty, sadness, despair and misery I can’t take it anymore, so I won’t.