Sahana Kanabar

English 10B
7th December 2014

Who is Responsible for Eva Smiths Death?

Eva Smith was a working class girl that recently committed

suicide by swallowing disinfectant, burning her insides out. Nothing
could be done to save her but an investigation into the last few
years of her life have brought lots of evidence to life. The whole
Birling family, Mr. Arthur Birling, Mrs. Sybil Birling, Miss Sheila
Birling, and Mr. Eric Birling, along with Miss Birlings fianc Mr.
Gerald Croft, have all had contact with Eva Smith and for the most
part she came away worsened by the encounter. After interviewing
every suspect I have come to the conclusion about which we should
hold most responsible. I believe the Mr. Eric Birling deserves more
leniency for his actions, while Mrs. Sybil Birling holds the most fault.
Mr. Eric Birling is not unlike many other young men of a higherclass. He is a drunkard with little self-control who unintentionally
hurt Eva Smith and ended up getting her pregnant. However, he is
one of the few members of the Birling family that attempted to
redeem himself by trying to support Eva Smith and his future child.
The methods he used were not honourable, the money he offered
Eva Smith was stolen from his fathers office but in the end had no
lasting impact on Mr. Arthur Birlings company. Mr. Birling is wealthy,

excessively so, while there are so many people suffering and

struggling for money. Mr. Eric Birling simply saw an opportunity to
help the less fortunate; this act could be comparable to charity. With
his innate sense of responsibility Mr. Eric Birling supports the
workers cause for higher wages, wages they could actually live on,
and cared about Eva Smiths future. He is one of the few people I
interviewed that admitted they have some fault but at the time he
knew her he was also attempting to make things right. Mr. Eric
Birling is simply a struggling young man that tried the best he could,
after all it is not as if he has had the best influence from his parents.
Young people are more likely to change their ways and learn from
previous mistakes. After admitting his part, Mr. Eric Birling was able
to accept his mistakes and recognize the steps that need to be
taken to prevent such future events. Mr. Eric Birling was the last
person I interviewed, so he knew there was no point in keeping
secrets and came clean almost immediately. He feels a horrifically
intense guilt and frustration that his careless actions ended with
such devastating consequences. Either way he did the best he could
while he had the chance. Eva Smiths death is not his fault, and he
should not take the blame.
Mrs. Sybil Birling deserves to take more responsibility for the
death of Eva Smith, as she knew fully well the damage she was
causing. The charity Mrs. Birling is chairwoman of, the Womens
Charity Organization, was created with the purpose of helping the
less fortunate yet Mrs. Birling blatantly ignored her responsibilities.

Not only that but she went beyond simply refusing to help Eva
Smith, which she saw as her duty, and turned everyone else in the
charity against her. One of the main reasons Mrs. Birling did not
want to help Eva Smith was that she appealed to help under the
false name Mrs. Eva Birling, and first told a false story in order to
gain more sympathy. Eva Smith knew what type of world this was
and how unreceptive the charity would be to an unmarried,
pregnant factory worker. Mrs. Birlings selective charity is really
nothing more than a front through which she poses as charitable
and kind-hearted. While Mrs. Birlings anger at being lied to could be
justified but she had no sympathy and never even tried to
understand Eva Smiths situation. In this situation she allowed
herself to be driven with consideration only to her public image.
Nothing is as important to her as her reputation, which would be
irrevocably damaged, in her opinion, if the Birling name were
associated with a low-class woman such as Eva Smith. This abuse of
her social power left Eva with no other options and was the final
blow that led her to commit suicide.
While I was conducting my interviews with the family Mrs. Birling
came off as particularly rude. She does not even have any respect
for officers of law; even they are lowly to her. Later on when news of
Eva Smiths pregnancy arose Mrs. Birling immediately switched tact
from trying to kick me out of the house to blaming the father of the
child for her suicide, all the while refusing to accept any
responsibility for Eva Smiths death. When the father turned out to

be her very own son, Mr. Eric Birling, Mrs. Birling tried to remain
blind to the truth and clung to her false image of him. Her lack of
awareness meant she had no idea of what Mr. Eric Birling was really
like, despite it being common knowledge that her son is a drunkard,
and her ignorant attitude causes her to harm many people, but she
still only cares about herself. During my experience as an Inspector
here in Brumley I have never encountered someone so heartless.
The dislike Mrs. Birling has for lower-class people, despite them
fueling the economy, is not even hidden. Mrs. Birling creates
nothing and contributes in no way towards this glorious country yet
feels like she has the right to judge others for the choices they make
when they are struggling to survive. The cost of her ignorance was
Eva Smiths life.
The death of Eva Smith was unfortunate; she did not deserve to
have all those bad things done to her and to die such a horrible
death. But there are still many Eva Smiths and John Smiths out
there. We need to take steps to protect them and to make Brumley
a better place for all people, no matter their class. Condemning a
young man like Mr. Eric Birling, an influential young man who cares
about social issues, will only turn high-class society against us even
more. Changes have to be made from the inside. Mrs. Sybil Birling
on the other hand, does not deserve such leniency. She is ruthlessly
cold-hearted, and has no shame. Eva Smiths death is on her hands.