Although Mr.Birling shows no regret, Sheila is far more compassionate and caring before she even realises she herself has something to do with the suicide. She shows an interest in the girl, ‘ Oh-how horrible! Was it an accident?’ ‘ It’s just that I cant help thinking about this girl destroying herself so horribly.’ she is showing she is already concerned for this girl and appears distressed when the details of how Eva killed herself really hits her. Sheila appears slightly confused and puzzled about the inspector accusing the family about Eva Smith’s death and Sheila says, ‘ You talk as if we were responsible,’ she is slightly angry for being accused of putting someone into a suicidal state, when she doesn’t understand what she did do to this girl, she hasn’t even realised she knows the girl.
When the inspector explains what her father, Mr.Birling did, she like Eric can see his mistake straight away ‘But these aren’t cheap labour- they’re girls.’ Before Sheila is questioned she knows that everyone is human and the employees aren’t objects or things you can treat unfairly. Then the inspector starts to explain what happened after Eva was sacked from the Birlings Company and how she was out of work for two months before being hired at Milwards. The inspector continues about how Eva was sacked from Milwards because someone complained about her. The family straight away assume she did something wrong but he corrects them and says that she did her job very well. Sheila now realises it was she who got Eva sacked, she explains to everyone about her day at Milwards a few months ago. She was with her mother, Mrs.Birling, and they were looking at some hats, Sheila spotted one she liked the look of but her mother and the older shop assistant were positive it wouldn’t suit her but she still insisted trying it on, as soon as it touched her head she new it looked silly but she didn’t want to be proven wrong. As she looked in the mirror she saw a young, pretty assistant smirking to the other older assistant and got in a terrible temper because she could see it would suit the younger assistant and caused a fuss and refused to come back if the girl remained working there. The shop assistants were puzzled and Sheila simply said that the girl had been awfully rude and she was sure to close her mother’s account if the girl was not gone the next time she came in. Of course the shop got a lot of their earnings off the Birlings family and they had no choice but to let the assistant go. The assistant was Eva Smith and Sheila is awfully regretful. ‘ I feel I can never go there (Milwards) again.’
The inspector starts to show Sheila that not everyone is as lucky as herself and they don’t have a family and luxurious lifestyle like hers. She starts to break into heavy sobs and tears roll down her cheeks she says ‘ I felt rotten about it at the time and now I feel a lot worse now.’ Sheila is most regretful and feels as though she is completely responsible, which isn’t true, but she does learn that she can’t keep treating people differently just because they aren’t in her class. I think because she is of the young society at the time she is more open to change and can see wrong more easily. ‘ If I could help her now I would..’ she would give anything to bring Eva back to life and to change what she did. The inspector appears cold as stone and has no sympathy he just says ‘. It is too late now’. ‘ I’ll never do it again to anybody’ Sheila is in complete regret and now knows she can’t control someone else’s life and that the classes are wrong and need to be changed. During Mrs.Birlings questioning the inspector reveals Eva was pregnant and Sheila is horrified, ‘No! Oh-horrible-horrible! How could she have wanted to kill herself?’ It is now obvious that Sheila is a caring person and understands that every life is sacred and maybe because of her and her family two people have died.
Gerald Croft is next in line for questioning but he has never heard of an Eva Smith. The inspector at this point uncovers that she changed her name from time to time to get a job but it wasn’t successful. She changed her name to Daisy Renton, the reaction on Gerald’s face gave it away that he did know this girl and had a lot to do with her. Eric shows the Inspector to the drawing room, and Sheila and Gerald have a conversation about last summer when he didn’t go near her. He explains that he had in fact met this girl and had spent a fair few weeks with her. Sheila and Gerald both join the rest of the household (Mrs.Birling, Mr.Birling and Eric) in the Drawing room and the inspector immediately hits on Gerald and starts to question him. The inspector unpicks Gerald’s story about how he met Eva or Daisy, as Gerald knew her. They met at The Palace Variety Theatre where Gerald had gone for a drink. He saw this pretty girl having Alderman Meggarty forced upon her and she looked frightened by him, ‘ Old Meggarty half-drunk and google-eyed had wedged her into a corner.’ Gerald sorted something out and in a way rescued the girl. Gerald said she didn’t seem to fit in and he took her away from the smoky bar to the County Hotel where they had a drink and learnt a bit about each other’s lives and pasts. He took her home but realised it was a tatty bed-sit. In fact, she hadn’t any money. Gerald continues to say she couldn’t even afford food so he offered for her to live in a proper flat he was looking after for a close friend of his. She took some persuading but agreed. He soon realised that they were from different social classes a d the relationship couldn’t continue. He treated her like the ultimate princess and just dropped it with the click of his fingers, but she refused to blame him.
Gerald then starts to reveal he was generally upset about Eva’s death he says ‘ I wish to God she had now, perhaps I’d feel better about it’ he wishes she would’ve blamed him and hated him for splitting with her for no reason. He doesn’t seem in much regret because he did give her money and treated her so nicely when they were together, but he does see that he shouldn’t have lead her on for so long. However he does say ‘ I’m rather more-upset-by this business than I probably appear to be’ he then leaves and goes for a short walk. The inspector looks around the room and asks where Eric has gone. Mr.Birling searches the house and tells the inspector he must have gone out to cool off.
Mrs. Birling is a very powerful lady in the community and is head of a committee that helps young girls and women. She was a prominent member of the Brumley Women’s Charity. At the beginning Mrs. Birling seems oblivious and doesn’t want to discus or share many details. It turns out the Eva Smith visited her committee for help. Eva lied about her name and said that it was Miss.Birling of course the real Mrs. Birling was very offended and took immediate dislike to her, she admits she was prejudice to Eva’s case. Eva revealed she had no money and was pregnant. Mrs. Birling just thought she was making it up and if she wasn’t, there was a man offering her money but she wouldn’t take it because it was supposedly stolen. Mrs.Birling used her power and class against Eva so that her appeal was turned down. Mrs. Birling says, ‘ I didn’t like her manner…’ ‘ I did nothing I’m ashamed of or that won’t bear investigation.’ After her story is out on the table in front of her family she is still unaffected by the truth. She is positive and confident that she has done nothing wrong and because of her class she thinks she was and still is superior to Eva Smith. She thinks she was justified for her actions,’ I was justified. The girl began by telling a pack of lies…’ and feels it is right to refer to the lower class girl Eva as, ‘ As if a girl of that sort would ever refuse money.’ When the inspector confirms that Eva was definitely pregnant and was not making it up Mrs.Birling say, ‘Go and look for the father of the child, It’s his responsibility.’ And, ‘ I’m sorry she should have come to such a horrible end. But I accept no blame.’ She is denying it; she will not believe that she has anything to do with it. Mrs.Birling shows no remorse or responsibly for Eva’s painful death. She is sure it is the father of Eva’s child to blame, ‘ I blame the young man who was the father of the child she was going to have…….. If the girl’s death is due to anybody then it’s due to him…,’ She continues to say that he should be made an example of, one because he was a drunken slob who used Eva and two because he should be taught a lesson. The slight thing that Mrs.Birling has caught on to is that Eric got her pregnant and as soon as she finds this out she takes back everything she says. Mrs.Birling wants to keep everything a secret that is to do with her family. Now Eric enters and stands in the doorway all eyes are on him. He is the last piece of the puzzle leading up to Eva’s death. As the air becomes clear to Mrs. Birling she does change her mind about the father’s responsibility, she thinks it is less of the fathers fault because the father is her son Eric. She know seems to feel it was more Eva Smiths fault for teasing her son and this makes Mrs.Birling feel she has even less responsibility with Eva’s death.
The youngest member of the family is Eric. Eric is the son of Mr. And Mrs. Birling and isn’t much younger than Sheila but he comes across as a lot younger than her. This may be because he wants to explore life further and live it to its full. He came across Eva in The Palace Bar. They stayed there for a few hours before seeing her home safely. He then slept with her. They then met again, two weeks later. This wasn’t a planned meet it was just a coincidence, Eric couldn’t even remember her name or where she lived but they chatted and spoke about their lives just like she and Gerald had. Eric went back to Eva’s place again and they made love for the second time. They arranged to meet again and at this meet Eva told Eric she was pregnant or was very sure she was, she wouldn’t marry him because they were worlds apart and she said he didn’t love her so he believed the only option he had was to give her money but he didn’t have any money. He stole fifty pounds from his fathers office, Mr.Birling starts shouting at Eric and it gets very heated, then Mr.Birling says to Eric he is the one to blame and Eric replies, ‘I’ll bet I am,’ he accepts his lack of responsibility in Eva’s case and starts to show regrets and feels ashamed about his behaviour.
The inspector leaves and Gerald returns with news that the inspector was an impostor, but Eric and Sheila can see that even if it wasn’t true their lesson is learnt. Eric explains to the family that even if this was made up we keep hurting other people by our actions and Sheila agrees, ‘ what’s the use of talking about behaving sensibly. You’re beginning to pretend now that nothing’s really happened at all. And I can’t see it like that. This girl’s still dead, isn’t she? Nobody brought her to life did they?’ We all need to be more responsible and everyone is a human. To stop humanity from collapsing everyone needs to learn to be more responsible not only for themselves but for others too. Sheila is happy to back this up but Mr.Birling and Mrs.Birling just dismiss the lesson they should have learnt and understood. The phone rings and it is an Inspector saying that he is on his way round because a girl called Eve Smith has just committed suicide but under queer circumstances and the family is going to be questioned.
In An Inspector Calls the different characters react to their guilt in different ways as the news is revealed to them. Some form a harden shell and don’t want to hear the truth e.g. Mr and Mrs.Birling. Some are open to hear they’ve done wrong and happy to take the consequences e.g. Sheila and Eric. Sheila is the character that feels most responsible and feels the most guilt; this is because she is of the younger generation and is young enough to change her ways and have her views changed. The inspector forms a great impression on Sheila and Eric, he says, ‘ The younger ones are more impressionable.’ Gerald is semi- regretful, but not as much as Eric and Sheila because he was half decent to Eva, he probably views it as he stood by her more than the others he was the nicest to her out of them. Mr.Birling and Mrs.Birling show no remorse, they continue to be set in upper and lower classes and have hearts of stone. They dismiss this girl because she doesn’t belong to them. In Mr.Birlings case she had more spirit and in Mrs. Birling’s case she used her class against Eva, was a spiteful and unfair thing to do, and even when Mrs.Birling is told this by the inspector, Eric and Sheila she continues to show no affection towards Eva.
The play is set in 1912; people’s opinions at the time reflect the characters in the play. The lower class people worked and slaved for the upper class people and we are shown very little respect. Whereas now people are equal and treated as individuals, there is less focus on social classes compared to the time the play was set. The play being performed in today’s society would have less of a contrast because people are more equal; there is still a lesson to be learnt- we should all be responsible for ourselves and others.
In my opinion all the characters set off a chain reaction and weren’t aware of the responsibilities they held as a family, individual and part of humanity. Sheila being the younger woman and weaker character had the most compassion and felt the guiltiest when she probably did the least wrong. Eric can see everyone else’s mistakes and this make it easier for him to see his own. Mr. Birling is a self obsessed man and won’t ever change; he has lived the same life for years and worked hard for his money and successful business. Mrs.Birling likes the luxuries of her lifestyle and the power she has over people, this is why she feels no regret, she can’t appear weak in front of her family or the inspector. She doesn’t comprehend that there is a different way to act. Both Mr. and Mrs.Birling have positions of great responsibility but show no responsibility in Eva’s case. Gerald cared for Eva and felt guilty for a while but when he found the inspector was an impostor he forgot about it and didn’t feel responsible because he didn’t think it actually happened.
The inspector voices the views about responsibilities most strongly and is joined by Sheila and to a lesser degree Eric. In a certain respect these characters act as a conscience for the other characters. Mr and Mrs. Birling express the opposite views and this makes a bigger contrast between the characters and thoughts on responsibilities. All characters must realise, accept and be responsible for the true results of what they’ve done. It’s about everyone in humanity not just yourself and your actions - this is the moral that the characters were taught. J.B Priestly used a serious, exaggerated case to show the audience/ reader that everyone in humanity is equal and responsible for actions affecting themselves and others.
