Eva Smith's Suicide Analysis

The theme of responsibility is first encountered in the first part of Act One, where Arthur Birling criticises socialist ‘cranks’ and expresses his own philosophy: ‘a man has to mind his own business and look after himself and his own.’ To ensure that the audience disagrees with this view, he depicts how Arthur Birling is wrong about many things, such as Britain’s ‘steadily increasing prosperity’ in 1912, the ‘impossibility’ of war or how the Titanic is ‘absolutely unsinkable’ - therefore making the audience believe that his capitalist “every man for himself” idea is also wrong. As a socialist, someone who believes in mutual social responsibility, Priestley tries to present a more compelling argument by showing both sides. He accurately

Sheila, Eric and sort of Gerald are more responsible in the sense that they are quick to realise and accept the consequences of their own actions, unlike Mr and Mrs Birling who deny their responsibility in Eva Smith/Daisy Renton’s suicide: Mr Birling adamantly claiming that he ‘can’t accept any responsibility’ before even listening to what the inspector has to say about Eva, contrasts with Sheila’s gradual realisation of her impact on Eva’s life; from when she questions, ‘So I’m really responsible?’ to her admitting that ‘it was [her] own fault’. She even feels ‘desperately sorry’. Mrs Birling goes as far as putting the blame on someone else - Eva herself, and the ‘young man who was the father of the child she was going to have.’ Her stubbornness and complacency blind her from the truth as she goes on an ‘agitated’ rant about how he is ‘entirely responsible’ and that ‘he ought to be dealt with very severely’ - even though Sheila tries to warn her. This backfires when she realises that the young man is her own son, and that she has ended up hurting her own family. This shows the audience how her capitalist “every man for himself” attitude is a bad idea that does not work, again promoting the concept of mutual