Gerald Croft has a large contribution, as he had an affair with her and just abandoned her when he felt like it. It all started when he saw her one night at the stalls bar in the Palace Theatre, and started talking to her because she was being harassed by a large fat man, that Gerald knew. After awhile Gerald persuaded her to come back to Gerald's, just to talk, as friends! So she did. Two days later when they met again, on purpose this time, he found that she was completely penniless, half starved and no whereto live, probably because she couldn't afford the rent in her old placement. So Gerald allowed her to move into an apartment, which his friend had trusted him with, while Gerald's friend was away on business in Australia. A couple of days went by, and Gerald was going around to the apartments often to see Eva, and things progressed to Eva becoming Gerald's mistress and Gerald being the most important thing in Eva's life. Eva was madly in love with Gerald, but knew herself that it couldn't be, as they were both from very different classes, but she still loved him. He didn't feel the same way as Eva felt about him, because it quotes this in the book. If she ever found out that Gerald didn't love her, her heart would be broken once again!
Gerald eventually ended their relationship, but it was no surprise, as Eva already knew that this situation would occur sometime or other. Since there was no relationship anymore, Eva had to move out of the apartment, and she went to live at the seaside. She said she needed to live there where it was quiet and she had time to think about everything that has happened. I don't think Gerald had a great part to do with Eva committing suicide, as she had already knew at the beginning that their relationship wouldn't, and couldn't be! So it wasn't much of a shock to her. The only bad thing that Gerald has done was being unfaithful to Sheila Birling, so I don't think that Gerald pushed her into the path of committing suicide.
Mrs. Birling is very strict and snobish, she also doesn't care about anybody else, just her self. She is a member of the 'Brumley Women's Charity Organisation'. Eva Smith went to this society for help. When she arrived there, Mrs. Birling asked Eva her name, and she replied, "Mrs. Birling". The real Mrs. Birling got very angry with this, and thought that the girl was being cheeky, so Mrs. Birling had the power to dismiss Eva Smith plea for help. Now that Eva Smith is gone, Mrs. Birling still won't take any responsibility for Eva Smith's death.
Eric Birling is the last person to be interrogated by the inspector and we instantly know that he is the father of Eva Smiths child. Eric Birling is a drunken, misunderstood youngster who really is not seen by his
parents as anything. Eric had also had a fling with her, and he admits that he wasn´t in love with her or anything. Eric helped the young girl as much as he could, but she refused to marry him, but she didn´t love him enough to marry him. Still, Eric wanted to help her so he offered her money that was stolen from his father´s safe, that he claims he would pay it back, in time. Of course, she didn´t take it because she knew that it was stolen. This was the last point in Eva Smith´s life that she could take. Having a child with no husband and no Job! She took her own life.
The mystery of the Inspector´s identity is one that the play never answers. One answer is of course is that he is a dramatic device; without him the play could not happen. But given that the other characters are all believable and realistic, audiences often want to ask about the reality of the Inspector too. It is Gerald who discovers that the Inspector is not who he says he really is. He helps the Birling's unpick the Inspector´s story of the girl until there seems to be nothing left of it. Sheila and Eric hang on to the conviction that “it was anything but a joke” while accepting that there may have been more than one girl and that no girl may have committed suicide. Personally, I believe that the creation of the Inspector by Priestly was to portray a personal message to all the readers, that we are all equal and do not rise above one another. The Inspector´s words echo Priestley´s own thinking. Also that Eva Smith represents a personal message also. She represents all working class girls who become exploited by surrounding people who think they are better than her. I also believe that the Inspector is supposed to be the characters guilty conscience. I have come to realise that during the play, Sheila had changed the most in her attitude to life and others. At the beginning she was very stubborn and she acted like a ‘spoiled little brat´, but towards the end of the play, she became the most sensible one out of all the characters. Eric and Sheila have learned the most, if it was a non-fictional story, these two people would have been changed for the rest of their life because of this experience. They have learnt not to take any thing for granted and try and see things from other people’s point of view. They have also learnt never to judge someone by the way they look or where they came from otherwise something such as this could happen again that and that would be far too much to bare.
The Inspectors goal was to make all of the characters feel guilty for what they had done to Eva Smith, and he was very successful in doing so, as he had turned the family against each other and upside down. I'm not sure if he meant to do that purposely, but he made them think about life and how one action, can make a lot of difference.
As we can see each one took part in her death, but which one has the most to do with it. Unlike their parents, Sheila and Eric feel guilty about what they have done. They wished that they could turn the clock back and stop it from happening. Both Mr. Croft and Mr Eric Birling try to help her and take responsibility for what they had done, but the others didn't try to help her even though the had the chance. I would say that Mr. and Mrs. Birling are more responsible for her death because they had her fired from her jobs and then refused her help when she needed it the most. Also Mr. Birling and Mrs. Birling are the parents of Sheila and Eric, so that's where Sheila and Eric probably get their pride, jealousy and stubbornness helped a young girl to commit suicide. I am not saying that Eric and Gerald didn't have anything to do with her death as they contributed but I think that those three hold a little more guilt than others do.
The message of the play was particularly effective to the audiences of 1946. Priestley knew that the message of his play would reach the war-weary audiences of the era more effectively than it would reach the audiences of a different time. The "fire and blood and anguish" reference to the First and Second World Wars would be very influential to the audience. The setting of the play in 1912 allowed for predictions to be made by both Birling and Inspector Goole. The intended effect of the predictions was to make the audience see a glimpse of the kind of person the predictive character is. In the case of Birling, the audience would see him as a character whose opinion is not to be trusted, whereas the predictions made by the Inspector chill the audience and make them see that the lesson he speaks of has been re-taught through fire and blood and anguish twice already. The audiences had experienced the horrors of war and were not eager to experience them again, so they may think that if they followed JB Priestley's message, they would prevent yet another world war.
The play was set in 1912, and being set at this time, there was not only the opportunity for predictions, but also for a more drastic look at the relationship between the rich and the poor. The class gap of 1912 was much larger than that of 1946, and so was more noticeable to the audiences. With the upper class, we have mentalities like that of Sybil Birling, who would seem to think that all members of the lower classes are beneath her and her family. She say to Birling "Arthur, you're not supposed to say such things," when he compliments the cook (the cook being a member of the lower classes). This shows that she believes that the lower classes are there to serve, not to be thanked or complimented. This is a strange viewpoint for a "prominent member of the Brumley Women's Charity Organisation". With the lower classes however, we have Eva Smith, a young woman who is shown as the innocent victim of the thoughtless actions of the Birlings. This contrast is one of many in the play, set up to show one side to be better than the other. The Inspector against Birling, Eva Smith against Sybil Birling, Sheila and Eric at the end of the play against Arthur and Sybil, they all show examples of what Priestley viewed as the Right way against the Wrong way. The way the latter parties in each contrast I have mentioned act in a way such as to cause the audience to see them as in the wrong, making the other party correct. The other parties have views similar to Priestley, so Priestley was trying to get his message of community and socialism across to the audience through the actions of the characters.
Another of Priestley's messages seems to be that there is hope for the future. On seeing how they have affected Eva Smith, both Sheila and Eric act remorsefully. The character of Sheila is fairly caring at the beginning of the play, but as events unravel, and Sheila realises her guilt, her character develops from a fairly naÏve young girlish character to a more mature, understanding character. This change is so dramatic that to compare the Sheila who at the end of the play has taken to heart the Inspectors lessons ("I remember what he said, how he looked, and what he made me feel. Fire and blood and anguish."), with the Sheila who had a young girl fired from her job because of her own personal paranoia and who acted so differently earlier, you would think they were different people. This is similar to a comparison made between the drunken , playful Eric of Act 1 with the sober serious Eric at the end of Act 3 who has learned that his own mother played a major role in driving the woman bearing his child to suicide.
Priestley's aims are made clear by the Inspector largely. As his interactions with the characters go, Inspector Goole is mysterious. He has a way of making the characters confess to him, and to themselves, their role in Eva Smiths demise. He links the separate accounts together to form an approximate biography of Eva Smith from when she left the employment of Mr Birling up until she commits suicide. Inspector Goole has another use though - he acts as a social conscience of sorts. He acts as the voice of Priestley in the play , or the voice of Priestley's socialist views. "We don't live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other." He points out that "we have to share something. If nothing else, we'll have to share our guilt," and that "Public men Mr Birling, have responsibilities as well as privileges" to which Birling replies "…you weren't asked here to talk to me about my responsibilities." Contrary to what Arthur Birling believes, it is a very likely that the Inspector was sent to the Birlings to teach them about responsibility.
The ending, as I have already pointed out, symbolises the fact that if you do not learn your lesson the first time, you will be taught it again and again. It symbolises that you can't run from your conscience, as the Birlings will find out. Priestley uses the dramatic twist of the Inspector returning at the end of the play to emphasis this point, and makes it more effective by placing it just as the characters are beginning to relax. It serves to 'prick' the consciences of both the characters and the audience.
If I was able to direct one section or part of the play, it would be when the inspector enters the Birlings household. I would make it so the atmosphere in the room is very happy and cheerful with the lighting very bright and bold. Then when the inspector enters the lights would flicker and a crash of thunder would be heard. The inspector would then appear out of nowhere and be standing in the corner of the room with a spot light on him and the rest of the dark room in dimmed light to create an atmosphere. I would also make it so everyone in the room is shocked and in horror at the surprise of the inspector making such a sudden and dramatic entrance. I would then direct the inspector to slowly walk, silently across the room. Then as he gets closer to them, say in a deep, grough and voice of authority, ‘Good evening’. He would be dressed in a brown trench coat with black pressed trousers, a matching black hat a crisp white shirt and a black tie as a mark of respect for Eva Smith and clean, polished black shoes. He would be very well shaven and would have taken his hat off upon entering the house. His hair would be brushed slickly to the side as a side parting. He would be a very over powering person but not very well built. All of the others in the room would be dressed very smartly, maybe in evening wear.
