Eva Smith in An Inspector Calls Do you agree that Eva Smith is presented as a victim in the play An Inspector Calls?

How does J.B Priestly use the Inspector to make the Birling family aware of their responsibilities to individuals such as Eva Smith and how successful is he? When Eva Smith is presented to the audience by the Inspector, she is immediately shown to be the victim of the play. The Inspector highlights and describes how each of the members of the Birling family has used Eva Smith. The Inspector shows that each character has victimised her and that each of them has a part to play and a partly responsible for her death. The Inspector soon shows us that he thinks she is a victim as he describes her as A pretty, lively sort of girl, who never did anybody any harm. The Inspector tries to make each family member, including Gerald Croft, guilty for how they have treated Eva Smith. An Inspector Calls is a play all about the social attitudes of the time. The play shows the attitudes of high class people such as the Birlings and how they see other members of the community. The Birlings are a rich family and they dont feel that they should care for other people. They think that they should only be responsible for themselves and there family and not get involved with helping less well off people. Mr Birling put it that if we were all responsible for everything that happened to everybodyit would be very awkward The play shows how Eva Smith is a victim of the attitude of society in 1912. It shows how hard it was for her as she was young, had no family and was unemployed, meaning she had no income to provide for herself. The play shows how some women were forced to beg charities for help to survive or how some young women were even forced into prostitution to provide themselves money to live on. The play highlights the bad way in which women, in a position similar to Eva Smiths, were treated at that time by society, especially wealthy members of the public with high social statuses such as the Birlings. The Inspector targets each member of the Birling family and shows how they, as individuals, victimised Eva Smith and made her life harder. The Inspector firstly shows how Mr Birling treated her. Mr Birling is the father of the family and has a high status in the community. Mr Birling is a successful business man. He is involved in local politics and is hoping to be given a knighthood. He is very self-confident and quite arrogant and less socially aware then other members of his family. He feels that the rich people should stay rich and the poor people should stay poor. He is very anxious to keep his status in the community, and often bullies people to do so. The Inspector shows his part in the death of Eva Smith as being the fact that he fired her from her job in his factory.

When Mr Birlings son hears this he immediately asks Is that why she committed suicide? Mr Birling however shows no sympathy for Eva Smith. He seems much more concerned with his works and the financial side of it, rather than the welfare of his employees. Eva Smith was sacked because she was one of the ringleaders in a group of workers wanting a pay rise. I refused, of course is what Mr Birling said to the Inspector. This shows the reader and audience just how arrogant Mr Birling is because he wasnt even prepared to discuss it with his employees. The Inspector highlights that now Eva Smith was unemployed, she no longer had and income to provide for herself; this was a bad position for a young woman to be in at that time. When Sheila Birling finds out about a womens horrible death she is much more upset than her father saying Oh How horrible. When she finds out she knows the women and could be partly involved she is distraught and runs out of the room. This shows how different Sheila is to her father. She feels distressed and guilty for Evas death whereas her father does not seem to show any emotions or any sign of guilt or responsibility. After being sacked by Mr Birling, Eva Smith had managed to find work at department store called Milwards. A shop that Sheila and her mother regularly visit. The Inspector then explains that Eva Smith was soon fired from her job due to a customer complaining about her. This makes Sheila agitated and she asks the Inspector when was this? The Inspector tells her and Sheila then asks what did this girl look like? It is after she is shown a picture of the girl that she runs out of the room sobbing. Sheila soon returns and speaks with the inspector. She obviously feels guilty as she asks him miserably So Im entirely responsible? The Inspector says no but tells her that she is Partly to blame. Although it was here bad temper and jealously that caused Eva Smith to lose her job at Milwards, Sheila seems genuinely sorry for her actions. Eva Smith is presented as the victim here because she has been forced out of a job through no major fault of her own. The Inspector soon goes on to mention that Eva Smith then changed her name to Daisy Renton. The mentioning of this name clearly hit Gerald as he gave a sharp reaction upon hearing it. The Inspector later questions Gerald about his relationship with Daisy Renton. First he attempts to deny this but he had already given himself away by his reaction when he heard the name. He eventually tells the inspector that he had an affair with Daisy Renton and then later abandoned her. Gerald had met her at the theatre and they then went along to the Country Hotel where they had a drink or two and talked. He soon realised she was in need of help so he found accommodation for her at an apartment Gerald was looking after for his friend. Although he helped her and felt sorry for her Gerald admits that he didnt love her and he said that he didnt feel the same way about her as she

felt about me Eventually Gerald broke it off with Daisy and she had to move out of the room. She had saved a little money and Gerald gave her some to keep her going till the end of the year. After speaking to the Inspector, Gerald goes outside for a walk. It appears that the Inspector has got Gerald thinking about his part in Eva Smiths life it shows that like Sheila, he also appears to have morals and feelings. So far, Gerald is the only person who has attempted to help the girl even, even if a part of it was for personal gain. Mr Birlings wife, Mrs Birling is described as a rather cold woman and her husbands social superior. She makes very snobbish comments and her coldness and lack of conscience make her very unsympathetic. She appears to be out of touch with the reality of life. She is extremely full of herself and seems the type of person who only cares about herself. Mrs Birling is a prominent memberof the Brumley Womens Charity Organisation. She says, with dignity, Yes. Weve done a great deal of useful work in helping deserving cases. This statement again shows us Mrs Birlings distinct lack of conscience as she only helps people she feels deserve to be helped. Eva Smith appealed to Mrs Birlings organisation for help. She gave her name as Mrs Birling which Mrs Birling was disgusted at. It was one of the things that prejudiced me against her case said Mrs Birling. Sheila points out how she died a horrible death. Mrs Birlings cold heartedness shows through even clearer now as she says she had only herself to blame. Mrs Birling obviously feels that she had nothing to do with her death; she is taking on her husbands views that she should not be responsible for anyone else in society. Mrs Birling feels no regret for what she did as she felt Eva Smith was not one of the deserving cases. The Inspector tells her that she did something terribly wrong and that she will spend the rest of her life regretting it. The writer here is using the inspector to have a powerful effect upon Mrs Birling. Throughout the Inspectors interviewing of Mrs Birling, she shows no conscience of sympathy for Eva smith. She feels that she has done nothing wrong and has no part to play in Evas death. Sheila is obviously distressed and showing sympathy as she constantly cries out for them to stop talking when they mention the death of the girl. Eric Birling is the last person to be interviewed by the Inspector. He admits that he met the girl at the Palace theatre bar; the same place where Gerald met her. He met her two months after Geralds affair with her had ended. It is later revealed that the girl was pregnant and that Eric was the father. We are also told that Eric stole money from his fathers office to support the pregnant woman. From then on, the family begin

turning against each other. When Eric hears of his mothers part, refusing to help the girl, he accuses her of killing her own grandchild. Mr Birling is shocked about his son stealing and immediately begins thinking of how to prevent this news being revealed to the public. Once again Mr Birling is thinking of his familys social status. It appears that Eric used Eva Smith for sex and to flatter his egos. Once again, Eva is presented as the victim. The Inspector makes final speech upon departing. It is a moving and thought provoking speech. I think that the Inspector represents the voice of Priestly as he was a strong socialist. One Eva Smith has gone but there are millions and millions of Eva Smithswith their livesintertwined with our livesWe are members of one body. We are responsible for each other. The inspector leaves and the family immediately start arguing. Mr Birling does not seem affected at all by the nights event. All her is worried about is the fact that he might not get his knighthood. Mrs Birling acts very similar all she can say is how ashamed she is of Eric and does not show any sympathy for Eva Smith. Mr Birling and his wife both remain confident that there actions were justified and that they played no part in the death of Eva Smith. Sheila on the other hand, is disgusted at her parents and she appears extremely guilty and upset about what she has done. Ive behaved badlyIm ashamed of it. She tells her father that he doesnt seem to have learnt anything. After making some phone calls and finding out that everything could be a hoax, Mr Birling begins acting as if nothing has happened. He hasnt learnt a lesson and neither has his wife. It appears though that the younger generation, Eric and Sheila have learnt a lesson and appear generally sorry and guilty for their actions. Mr and Mrs Birling have obviously grown up with these morals and class division and are not intending to change their ways now. The play ends in a twist with a phone call from the police saying that a girl has just died and an Inspector is coming around to question them. In An Inspector Calls, throughout the duration of the Inspectors visit, Eva Smith is presented, by the Inspector, as the victim of the play. The Inspectors explains how each of the character has mistreated and victimised her, ultimately resulting in her suicide. The Inspector uses her diary to explain how she thought and felt after the main characters have acted on her. She is presented as an innocent person throughout the play and the audience are made to believe that she has done nothing wrong. The Inspector is used to make individuals such as the Birlings aware

of their responsibilities to people such as Eva Smith. In the case of Mr and Mrs Birling, I dont feel he has succeed as they are very proud and arrogant people who feel that it is not their duty to look after other people in society. The effect the Inspector has had on Sheila and Eric Birling is much more apparent. Sheila feels guilty for her actions throughout the play and is disgusted when she hears her parents say that they are not and played not part in her death. Eric, though not showing it as much as his sister, also feels guilty for his actions. The moral of `An Inspector Calls' is that no matter what class we are we are all equal and that we must work together. It is the Inspectors role in this play to portray this message.