Who should be responsible for Eva Smith death?

The Birling family are all responsible for Eva Smith's death to varying degrees. She was a victim of their pompous classism. Eric Birling possibly gives the final blow to Eva by getting her pregnant but the whole family's handling of Eva was indifferent and cruel.

First of all, you would be assuming that the Inspector was a real person, that the person they all knew was the same Eva Smith.

It is really down to personal opinion, but I think the responsibility falls mainly on the shoulders of Eric and Mrs Birling. Eric uses Eva Smith/Daisy Renton for his own desires, saying she was a good sport. He entered the sexual relationship with Eva/Daisy knowing he would not be able to support her finincially if he ever got her pregnant. Likewise, Eva/Daisy knew a proper relationship between them would never work for a number of reasons:

1. Eric has no money, spends it what he earns on drinking and everything else is just provided for him.

2. Eric has lived a very sheltered, and protected life and as a result, despite their similar ages, Eric possesses a significantly lower mental age than Eva. She sees him as a child and so does the audience, despite him agreeing with the Inspector's message and being able to perceive what is happening around him. In fact, in a way, he could be considered to be more perceiving than Sheila who is usually identified as the most perceiving character in the play. This is because Eric appears to be relieved to leave when the pressure is beggining to mount on him.

3. The large difference in class means the relationship would be under significant strain from the off.

4. The circumstances of their meeting are questionable and would ruin Eric and the Birling's reputation.

5. Eric doesn't love her at all, and she knows it.

With regards to Mrs Birling, she fails to see past the reasons for Eva Smith lying to her when she is approached by Eva/Daisy for help. She stubbornly and ignorantly influences the decision of the charity to reject Eva's claims. However, she does give Eva/Daisy valuable advice that she needs to get the father (Eric) involved. Mrs Birling and the charity do reserve the right to reject help under certain, questionable circumstances such as these. So, an interesting argument to take, is that Mrs Birling is perfectly within her rights to reject the request but unkowingly condemns Eva to death - well, somebody dies in the end, whether it is 'Eva' or not we are never told. How could Mrs Birling tell apart the truth from the lies Eva was spinning? Well, she couldn't. Perhaps if Eva/Daisy had told the truth, and started by using her real name... But ultimately, Eva doesn't take the advice, and so doesn't get help from Eric. She never even gets back in contact with him. She doesn't get help from the charity. If I remember correctly, 'she' also tells either Eric or Gerald that she isn't looking for new employment. Therefore, the best thing she could have done for her and her child was to seek the help of Eric - just until she had given birth, and then she could have looked for a new job.

And so perhaps, perhaps, an even more challenging and interesting line of argument to take is that it is Eva's death is her fault. Plenty of people get fired from their jobs and go on to be fine. She was doing fine when she was at Milward's. She got fired again but this doesn't drive her to suicide - she could just get another job. BUT she doesn't. Welll, not a respectable one anyway. She gets involved in the sex industry. Gerald helps her and gives her money which is a bonus. Nothing bad really comes of Gerald's involvement with her. In fact, it was positive. She got money, food, clothes, somewhere to live but most importantly, happy memories that would stay with her forever. Eric gets her pregnant and he is willing to be involved and to help but she doesn't want the money. Now, isn't this a little irresponsible? She is pregnant and out of work and has nobody. She needed all the money and support she could get. Anyway, she goes to the Charity and lies to them. She chooses the worst name possible, "Mrs Birling", which results in her application being rejected. She then disregards the charity's advice. I think if you put them in rank order of responsibility, Mr Birling and Gerald Croft would be near the bottom and then Eric, then either Mrs Birling or Eva Smith/Daisy Renton, depending on your opinion. Hope this helped!