Who was most to blame for the Death of Eva Smith?

by taylor693 (student)

Rosalia TaylorOctober 2011

Who was most to Blame for the Death of Eva Smith?

I think that there were many people to blame for the death of Eva Smith. I am going to highlight the character traits of each individual comparing the way they acted. All of which contributed to the death of Eva Smith.

The Birling family have a high social status, being upper class and living in a large house with at least one servant. This meant that most of the family were very well brought up and, like many at the time, were brought up to be class conscious people. Mr. Birling and Mrs. Birling are no exception to this stereotype of the time. Both seem constantly aware of their hierarchy and behave in a way that suggests they have little care for others less fortunate than themselves.

“A man has to make his own way”

Mr. Birling says when talking to his daughters fiancé about life. Though this should not be a characteristic of Mrs. Birling, it is. Working in a charity that aims to help women in trouble, Mrs. Birling met Eva in the final weeks of her life but after hearing her distressing story had little sympathy for the girl due to the fact she was under the false name of “Mrs. Birling”. This made her very angry and biased towards Eva and her case. Using her high social status Mrs. Birling made sure that the charity turned Eva away, which, as a consequence pushed Eva to desperation. Had it been her own daughter, or even a women of a higher class, it is likely that Mrs. Birling would have considered her case more sympathetically and offered any help available.

Mr. Birling too is a very class conscious person. Even when speaking to Gerald, who is a slightly higher class, Mr. Birling feels he has to prove himself. It appears that Gerald’s mother is not keen on the marriage due to the Birling’s status. However Mr. Birling tries to show off by talking of a knighthood he says he is bound to get,

“Just a knighthood, of course”

This shows that though Mr. Birling is trying to make himself better he is actually trying to dumb it down as if it were nothing of importance. Trying to gain Gerald’s respect. When he employed Eva in his factory, it was his aim to keep pay low and status and income high. It was Mr. Birling who started the downward descent on Eva’s life, feeling it his duty to turn her out onto the streets after an uprising from her and many other workers. This is just one display of his naivety, that he felt he had to sack her. He also shows this when speaking of the future,

“Nobody wants war, except some half-civilized folks from the Balkans.”

I think that this not only shows that Mr. Birling feels that he knows everything, because less than a decade later there was in fact a war with many people fighting, but also that he looks down on those who do want war, calling them “half-civilized” just because they have a different opinion from himself.

However Mr. and Mrs. Birling’s children, Eric and Sheila, have a completely different view of those less fortunate than themselves. Though Sheila acted in an inappropriate and irresponsible way in her encounter with Eva, it was clear that she then felt guilt and sympathy towards her despite her class.

“If I could help her now I would…”

As Sheila says this it is obviously too late, however it shows remorse and regret at what she did.

Eric too, didn’t seem to mind the class distance between him and Eva when they met. However this may have been the case only because of the amount of alcohol he had consumed during the evening and so therefore he was not in his right mind. After finding she was in financial trouble, Eric was still keen to help Eva, despite her class.

“I insisted on giving her enough money”

The way Eric says he “insisted” I think shows that he ...

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As Sheila says this it is obviously too late, however it shows remorse and regret at what she did.

“I insisted on giving her enough money”

The way Eric says he “insisted” I think shows that he really did try to help and was eager to do so.

Sheila’s fiancé did not care about the class distance between himself and Eva. Much like Eric, Gerald met Eva when at a palace bar and in stead of ignoring her cry for help he went over to her and took her out of an awkward situation despite her class and status. Where as Eric only had a short relationship with Eva, Gerald sustained his relationship a lot longer, regardless of the consequences. This just shows how easy Gerald was when socialising with those socially below him. The class did not seem to bother him as he just felt this difference meant he must help her as she was in need.

“I was just interested and friendly”

This shows that Gerald’s first actions towards Sheila were purely gentlemanly rather than love. Though Gerald was always keen to express his love for Sheila, his actions towards Eva showed a different side to his relationships. It also begs the question whether he was really going to marry Sheila due to his feelings towards her or whether business was always in the back of his mind. If the latter he probably would not be the only one.

Mr. Birling too did not seem to care about the relationship for conventional reasons but made it clear he was very excited by the prospect of merging companies with his daughter’s fiancé. It is highly probable that he and his wife took measures to bring the youngsters together, seeing an opportunity. He expresses his opinion at the beginning of the evening. Making an engagement speech he says,

“We may look forward to the time when Crofts and Birlings… are working together.”

I feel that this is an inappropriate thing to say when he is meant to be revelling in the love of two people but that it shows just some of the personality of Mr. Birling. Had Sheila fallen in love with someone who had lack of class or usefulness then it is doubtful whether her relationship would have got much further than a first date.

It is unlikely that Mr. Birling felt any guilt about the pressurised marriage as he and Mrs Birling showed little remorse through the whole play. Both were very stubborn all the way through, claiming no responsibility for the death. This carried on even after the inspector left as their main thoughts and reflections were about his manners towards them rather than the actions they took about and the appalling effects they had. Mr. Birling says,

“I can’t accept any responsibility”

Despite her parent’s reaction Sheila did not catch on to their way of thinking. Present throughout the evening, it seemed hard for her to come to terms with what she did, often bursting into tears.

I know I’m to blame – and I’m desperately sorry”

I think that this shows that Sheila may not have actually grown up since her first meeting with Eva as it seems quite immature for a girl her age. Though at the time her actions seemed justified to herself she claimed that she felt guilt some time after the incident but had given it little thought since.

Gerald also showed that he felt much guilt, though I think that his guilt may have been unevenly spread. Personally I think that he should not have only felt guilt towards Eva but also the woman he was supposed to be marrying. However this was not the case as he was not very apologetic to Sheila and showed most shame at leaving Eva when he realised their relationship wouldn’t last. Though he was leaving her to go back and spend more time with his wife to be, it was this woman that he was lying to. It seems that Gerald only thought of the consequences of his actions later on in the play.

“I’ve suddenly realized – taken it in properly - that’s she’s dead”

Some may say that what Eric and Gerald did was similar but there is a difference as though they both did wrong Gerald was actually in his right mind. Eric however was not fully aware of what he was doing., though I think that it was him that felt and displayed the most guilt. Struggling still at the end to come to terms with what he had done, Eric was upset during the whole evening. Whereas Sheila and Gerald felt guilt mostly during the evening Eric had clearly been upset since his first encounter with Eva.

“My God- I’m not likely to forget”

This shows that he actually thought of the consequences of his actions not only after he did what he did but during. Being distraught throughout, he was thinking of the things he had done to Eva rather than placing blame on others.

This was not the case for many of the other characters. Mrs. Birling began by putting all the blame on the boy who got Eva pregnant exclaiming that he should be brought to justice and made a public example of. However after realising that this irresponsible young man was her son she was quick to take back what she said. Rather than reflecting on her part in the death of Eva Smith, Mrs. Birling seemed to think that it was more important to place the blame on someone else.

Mr. Birling too shared this view and, instead of grieving, immediately interrogated Eric on the money that he borrowed to help Eva.

“I’ve got to cover this up as soon as I can”.

Rather than trying to comfort his clearly devastated son, Mr. Birling was immediately at his throat at something that was of little importance in the context of all the events. Though maybe Eric would not have stolen or “borrowed” the money if Mr. Birling had cared less about his business.

“You’re not the kind of father a chap could go to when he’s in trouble.”

Eric says this when trying to shield himself from the interrogation his father takes up at the new of the borrowed money. This implies that Mr. Birling and Eric did not have a close relationship and were not frightened to admit it to each other. If Mr. Birling had been more of a fatherly figure and been around during the bringing up of his children then it is possible that Eric would have not found himself in the situation he was in and would have gone to his father to help.

Eric accepted all of the blame for Eva’s death, never mentioning the participation of anyone else. Though he was backed up by his sister, who accepted that other people were as much to blame as her.

Still after finding out that the inspector was not real Sheila put blame on everyone in equal shares. She and Eric felt it changed nothing. However Gerald, Mr. Birling and Mrs. Birling did not agree. Mr. Birling kept accusing Sheila of being childish as he felt that she was taking on too much guilt. Mrs. Birling describes her as being,

“Over-excited”

Though this is definitely a miss-interpretation. Sheila acted this way only after her interview with the Inspector and really she was just trying to be sensible, every time she said something that may have been of use had the Birlings listened, she was regarded as being silly and immature.

After finding out that the inspector was not real Mr. Birling acted as if he had always known and frowned upon everyone else for not seeing it. He no longer cared about the things he had done but he instead decided to try to persuade his children that it was a good thing, to be hushed up. Mrs. Birling felt very similarly as she never felt guilt. She was only pleased to be protecting the family’s name. She tried to hush up her children making sure they told no one of the affairs and revelled in the fact that what she had done had not been as catastrophic as she had previously thought. She no longer cared about what she had done to the woman as long as no-one knew. Mr. Birling exclaims,

“it makes all the difference”

To which Gerlad replies, “Of course!”

Because of this Sheila and Eric were appalled with their parents, as they believed that they still did what they did, no matter what the actual consequences were.

“I still did what I did… the girls dead –and that’s what matters”

They still believed that they had affected someone who did not deserve it and made their life a misery even of they were not actually dead. Eric felt particularly this was as he actually starts to shout at his father at his immaturity. He still g to a woman pregnant, scared her and took advantage of her.

Sheila was a key part in the revelation but still did not seem satisfied with what she had done and still felt that she did ruined someone’s life and job just for her own anger issues. She seemed to think that things could maybe go back to normal one day but it would take time and she would never forget about how any of her family was involved in the “almost” death of Eva Smith.

Gerald also seems very pleased with himself and his discovery, proving his worthiness to Mr. Birling. He thinks everything can go back to the way it was earlier in the evening and very proud of himself. Unlike his fiancée Gerald immediately believed that the revelation meant that the fact he cheated on her was no longer a problem and he and Sheila could once again be married and engaged and love each other. Sheila doesn’t seem to agree with this as she says that she may have to think things over.

Upon hearing this then Mr. Birling immediately stood up for Gerald trying to convince his daughter that every relationship is not always what it seems but can easily be re-established.

The most suspicious person through out the play is the Inspector. Always at least seven steps ahead of the game, the inspector knew exactly what each person had done before they even spoke. Though this may have been an act it was certainly very convincing, leading people to answer his questions in the way he wanted. Where as a real inspector has to use lots of respect towards suspects, this “inspector” got a lot further and made a bigger impression by speaking freely. He never showed any emotion but was always keen to talk about the dead girl when possible, fixing the image in everyone’s mind when he thought they may have stated to forget.

“Her position now is that she lies with a burnt-out inside”

It is hard to tell why the inspector went to the Birling’s that night. If he had known that the death had not yet happened then surely he would try to stop it rather than working out who was responsible for it. In this way then the inspector may have been most responsible for the death of Eva Smith.

Although a number of people were involved in Eva’s death, overall I feel that it was actually two people who were most to blame. Mr. Birling an Mrs. Birling. I think this as Mr. Birling was the person to set off the whole affair. Had he not been so harsh to his employees then they would have all been able to carry on work at his factory. This would have meant that Eva would not have been forced onto the street and would not have tried to find work elsewhere or found herself in the position she ended up in. I feel that Mrs. Birling was equally to blame as had she shown some kindness towards Eva in her final weeks and offered her the help she was so desperately in need of then she would never have committed suicide and would still be alive with her young child. It was their character traits that I believe led to the actions they took during their personal encounters with Eva Smith and it was Mr. and Mrs. Birling’s personalities that led to her death.

When he realised Eva needed help Gerald didn’t consider the consequences of his relationship, this was hard on Sheila but just an example of the way he felt about those less fortunate than himself. Gerald tried to set up Eva smith in a room and accommodation so that she could respectfully and leant her money so that she could live well.

Mrs B did at some point talk about the a=way the inspector spoke to her, reflecting more on his manners that what she had done to a poor defenceless girl really in need of help. Mr. birling was very angry, but not at himself. He put all his blame eon his son. Everyone was to blame but he didn’t think so.

Gerald did not put much blame on anyone and rarely stayed his opinion though he did sometimes indicate the fact that he felt remorse and that he placed some blame on Eric but very little. He was accepting of the fact that Eric had a drinking problem and that what he did was a mistake unlike others.

“we drove that girl to suicide”

Who was most to Blame for the Death of Eva Smith?