An Inspector Calls - Assessment

Rashida Hasanali

Word count: 500-1000 words

Format - Handwritten or typed

● For this assessment, you will pretend to be a police inspector who has just
finished interviewing the characters in the play.

● You will produce a police report, in which you will examine each character
in the play and state their level of responsibility in the death of Eva Smith.

At the end of the report, you will need to make a judgment as to who is the
most responsible for Eva Smith’s death.

● You should refer to the words and actions of the characters in the play to
support your judgments.
 Police Report for Chief Superintendent and Prosecution Service

Incident: Suspected suicide of a young woman. Date of Report: 20/11/1912

Description of the incident and why it needs investigating:

Eva Smith, alias Daisy Renton, a young woman, aged 24, died in the infirmary (suspected
suicide), by drinking strong disinfectant whilst pregnant. After lots of thorough research from a
primary resource, all members of the Birling family (Arthur Birling, Sybil Birling, Sheila
Birling, Eric Birling, and Gerald Croft) are involved in the events preceding this girl’s death.

Suspect Accused actions that led to death and evidence from How responsible are they for the role in Eva
text. Smith’s death and why?

Mrs. Sybil Birling Eric Birling is a young man who is seen to be your
typical middle-class man with a horrible drinking
addiction. This problem leads to him going to the
Palace Bar *see Gerald Croft* and meeting Eva
Smith where they both drunkenly chatted and Ms.
Smith was forced to invite him to her lodgings and
make love because “I was in a nasty state when a
chap easily turns nasty and I threatened to make a
row.” (Priestley, p. 52). They met again a fortnight
later and continued to meet frequently (all under the
influence) until Eva revealed that she was pregnant.
They were both “in a hell of a state about it”
(Priestley, p. 53), because “She didn’t want me to
marry her. Said I didn’t love her and all that.”
(Priestley, p. 53), and at this time, she was
unemployed *see Sheila Birling*, didn’t feel like
going to get one and had no money. Mr. Birling
insisted on giving her stolen money from his
father’s office (50 pounds) to keep her going. Eva
Smith found out the money was stolen and “She
wouldn’t take anymore and she didn’t want to see
me again”. (Priestley, p. 54)
This evidence shows that Eric was the cause
of her pregnancy and in the time period of the
play, it is taboo for women to be unmarried at
a legal age, and even more as pregnant
women. There was a justifiable reason for her
not getting married to him as he was
constantly drunk and still living with his
parents, and he didn’t love her which was one
of the bases of marriage at the time. He also
raped her, putting her in a very traumatic and
dangerous situation if she ever tells anybody
because of the unjust court system that
victims of sexual assault face, and the
difference in social status. He also took away
her bodily autonomy which she is entitled to
and continued to see her in an unhealthy
environment pretending as nothing happened.
Lastly, he stole 50 pounds (1,939.93 OMR) to
give to Eva, knowing that he defied a law, and
only ceased after she stopped accepting
money from him.

Mrs. Sybil Birling Mrs. Birling is an important woman of higher status
than her husband. This position leads to her being
the head of Brumley’s Women’s Charity
Organization, and Eva Smith seeks financial aid
once she becomes pregnant and penniless *see Eric
Birling*. Mrs. Birling convinces the committee to
turn her away because “I didn’t like her manner.
She’d impertinently made use of our name … and
This evidence shows that Mrs. Birling was the
last resort to Eva Smith but she was
consciously prejudiced against her and turned
her down because of her retelling of the
situation. With the traumatic events Eva went
through, it is difficult to come out with the
truth, especially in that time period where
women are inferior to men. Since Eva was of
 that the story she told at first … was quite false.” lower social status, Sybil had the natural and
(Priestley, p. 44). She was also openly prejudiced unjust urge that the patriarchy fuels to look
against her as she says: “Naturally that was one of down upon her and think of her differently
the things that prejudiced me against her case.” than other people searching for assistance.
(Priestley, p. 43). Lastly, she portrays Eva Smith as
unimportant with statements like: “I think I was
justified. The girl had begun by telling us a pack of
lies. … A lot of silly nonsense … She was giving
herself ridiculous airs … that were simply absurd in
a girl of her position … As if a girl of that sort
would ever refuse money! … I didn’t see any
reason to believe one story should be any truer than
the other.” (Priestley, pp. 46, 47).

Ms. Sheila Birling Sheila Birling is a typical middle-class young This evidence shows that Sheila is a very
woman who is engaged to Mr. Gerald Croft *see shallow person who plays with others’ lives
below*. After being fired from Birling and Co. *see to make herself feel better. Eva was already
Arthur Birling*, Eva Smith was hired in the fired once from Birling and Co., and it was a
department store Milwards. I informed the Birling miracle that she got a better job after as it
family, “After about a couple of months, just when doesn’t look good on your resume especially
she felt she was settling down, ... they told her from a big corporation like Birling and Co.
she’d have to go … all she knew was a customer Since Sheila fired her, her chances of getting
complained about her.” (Priestley, p. 20). Ms. a decent-paying and respectable job were over
Birling “was absolutely furious” (Priestley, p. 24), just like her standing in society.
and got into a dispute with Ms. Smith. As she
states: “I’d gone in to try something on … It just
didn’t suit me at all … when the assistant asked her
something about it, this girl … held the dress up …
and it just suited her … I caught sight of this girl
smiling … as if to say ‘Doesn’t she look awful’ … I
went to the manager at Milwards and I told him that
if they didn’t get rid of that girl, I’d never go near
the place again and I’d persuade mother to close our
account with them.” (Priestley, pp. 23, 24). I then
asked her if she was possibly motivated by
jealously and she said yes.

Mr. Arthur Birling Mr. Arthur Birling is a portentous, middle-class
man who owns a factory called Birling and Co.
Every year, he hires a few hundred young women to
work in the mills, and Eva Smith was hired around
a year back and kept as she was a good worker.
According to Mr. Birling: “The foreman there told
me he was ready to promote her into what we call a
leading operator.” (Priestley, p. 14). After their
annual summer holidays, Ms. Smith and her
This evidence shows that Arthur Birling is a
selfish man that cares more about the profits
and money he makes than the longevity of his
business and the wellbeing of his employees.
This behavior that he has with paying his
employees the regular amount leaves them
yearning for more. This makes them either
revolt against him, leave the job or stay there
unhappily. As he relies on labor work, he is
 colleagues decided to ask for more money. He
states: “They were averaging about twenty-two and
six which was neither more nor less than is paid
generally in our industry. They wanted the rate
raised so that they could average 25 shillings. I
refused,” (Priestley, p. 14). His reasoning was “We
were paying the usual rates and if they didn’t like
those rates, they could go and work somewhere else
… pitiful affair … except for the four or five
ringleaders … I went down myself and told them to
clear out.” (Priestley, p. 15).
constantly having to employ new people,
making the frequency of the work standard
decrease. Also, his foreman had to inform
him about the changes in the work dynamic
and this shows just how uninvolved Mr.
Birling is in the day-to-day handling of the
business.

Mr. Gerald Croft Mr. Gerald Croft is a well-bred upper-class young This evidence shows that Gerald is your
man whose parents are Sir George and Lady Croft typical patriarchal man in the 1910s. He
and is engaged to Ms. Sheila Birling *see above*. I follows the unspoken rule where the next of
had continued to tell the family about what kin (male) takes over the family business
happened afterward Eva Smith’s firing from (joining forces instead of competing
Milwards *see Sheila Birling* and mentioned that companies), and follows the typical standard
she changed her name to Daisy Renton. Mr. Croft where it is okay and even sometimes
had a rather startled tone and gave himself away at encouraged for men to have a mistress. Some
once. He revealed that: “I met her first … in the women are treated like they mean nothing to
stalls of ... the Palace music hall (*see Eric these men, however, some are treated well,
Birling*) … I went down into the bar for a drink. similar to Eva, in a situation where, like
It’s a favorite haunt of the women of the town … I Gerald, they give them a place to stay.
noticed a girl who looked quite different … The girl
saw me looking at her and then gave me a glance
that was nothing less than a cry for help … we went
along to the County Hotel.” (Priestley, pp. 34, 36).
He defends himself to his fiancee by stating: “All
she wanted to do was talk … she hadn’t a penny …
I didn’t install her there so that I could make love to
her. I made her go to Morgan Terrace because I was
sorry for her, and didn’t like the idea of her going
back to the Palace Bar. I didn’t ask for anything in
return”. (Priestley, pp. 36, 37).

Final Conclusion: In conclusion, Eric is the most guilty of the suspected suicide of Eva Smith’s
death. This is because he raped her (which can be a very traumatic event that affects people’s
lives forever) and got her pregnant (whilst knowing she had no money or support), and tried to
make it better by giving her stolen money. He is charged with rape and embezzlement.

Signature: Inspector Rashida

 STANDARDS: You will be assessed on:

Criterion A - Analysing - all strands

Criterion B - Organisation - all strands

How to be successful in this task

Criterion A - Analysis Criterion B - Organisation

There is evidence that you’ve read the text closely Your police report is organized in a
to determine the implications of each character’s way that resembles an authentic police
actions. report (see template)

You use clear and direct evidence from the text You use an organisational structure
(actions, words) to determine your judgement on appropriate for the topic (cause and
each character. effect, sequence, problem and
solution). This helps the reader easily
After you deliver your judgement for each locate the evidence and punishment
character, you justify your position with ideas, for each infraction
opinions, and a range of examples. These
explanations are thorough and well thought out, You arrange your police report in a
often pulled directly from the text. logical way that ranges from the most
guilty to the least guilty.
You use accurate terminology when describing the
motives, thoughts, and actions of each character. You use in-text MLA citations when
referencing key information (Priestley
You describe the incident (death of Eva Smith) 5), then (5) afterwards in a works cited
that took place and why this incident needs to be page.
investigated.