An Inspector Calls - To what extent is each character responsible for the death of Eva Smith?
Inspector Calls Essay – To what extent is each character responsible for the death of Eva Smith?
Each character is linked to Eva Smith in some way. The Birling family, Arthur, Mrs B, Sheila and Eric all contributed to her death along with Gerald, Sheila’s partner. In this essay I’ll be exploring how each of them contributed to her death and to what extent it is their responsibility.
The first person involved with Eva Smith was Arthur Birling. She was one of his employees who was a ‘ring leader’ of the strikes for higher wages. She was fired for being one of the girls to start the trouble. This was the first link in the chain of events that lead to Eva’s suicide so you could argue that Arthur was the most responsible. However, I would say that she managed to get back on her feet at many other points after being fired by Arthur, but other characters knocked her down again. For example, she managed to find another job at Milwards and probably would have been fine if it wasn’t for Sheila getting her fired again.
The next person to affect Eva Smith was Sheila. She never knew her personally; Eva worked at Milwards where Sheila often shopped. Eva had gotten her a dress she had requested at Milwards and was present while she tried it on. She ‘caught sight of this girl smiling – as if to say: doesn’t she look awful’. Sheila was furious with Eva, but admitted to the Inspector it was mostly jealousy as she was such a pretty girl. Although Sheila got her fired from her last stable job I don’t think she is the most to blame, however she does hold a large part of the responsibility.
Gerald was the next person to affect Eva Smith, although you could argue he helped her and actually made her life better. Gerald met Eva at the Palace Bar where she was working as a prostitute, and after a few days developed an affair with her. Gerald came to learn Eva was extremely poor so he let her live in a set of rooms for free, and gave her money to support her. When Gerald had
Each character is linked to Eva Smith in some way. The Birling family, Arthur, Mrs B, Sheila and Eric all contributed to her death along with Gerald, Sheila’s partner. In this essay I’ll be exploring how each of them contributed to her death and to what extent it is their responsibility.
The first person involved with Eva Smith was Arthur Birling. She was one of his employees who was a ‘ring leader’ of the strikes for higher wages. She was fired for being one of the girls to start the trouble. This was the first link in the chain of events that lead to Eva’s suicide so you could argue that Arthur was the most responsible. However, I would say that she managed to get back on her feet at many other points after being fired by Arthur, but other characters knocked her down again. For example, she managed to find another job at Milwards and probably would have been fine if it wasn’t for Sheila getting her fired again.
The next person to affect Eva Smith was Sheila. She never knew her personally; Eva worked at Milwards where Sheila often shopped. Eva had gotten her a dress she had requested at Milwards and was present while she tried it on. She ‘caught sight of this girl smiling – as if to say: doesn’t she look awful’. Sheila was furious with Eva, but admitted to the Inspector it was mostly jealousy as she was such a pretty girl. Although Sheila got her fired from her last stable job I don’t think she is the most to blame, however she does hold a large part of the responsibility.
Gerald was the next person to affect Eva Smith, although you could argue he helped her and actually made her life better. Gerald met Eva at the Palace Bar where she was working as a prostitute, and after a few days developed an affair with her. Gerald came to learn Eva was extremely poor so he let her live in a set of rooms for free, and gave her money to support her. When Gerald had