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Essay on Eric Birling:
An Inspector Calls:
Eric Birling And His Change Throughout the Play:
Within An Inspector Calls, Priestley uses the character of Eric Birling as a dramatic tool to present his socialist
message
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Primarily, at the play’s outset, Eric is shown to be a slight outcast within the Birling family as he is ‘half shy, half
assertive’
...
We are encouraged to believe that this may be due to the pretentious nature of the family and
their ‘not cosy and homelike’ house and their Capitalist ideologies
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Unlike the other members of the family, it may be that Eric welcomes the ‘brighter and
harder’ lighting the Inspector brings, as it enables the family to see themselves for what they really are
...
Sheila
rebukes him for being ‘squiffy’ and calls him an ‘ass’ within Act One
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It is, after all, his drinking that leads
him to force himself on to Eva Smith after meeting her at the ‘Palace Bar’ and begins their relationship
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He recognises that Sheila
has an ‘awful temper’ but is not ‘bad really’, with the adjective ‘awful’ exemplifying the short-tempered side of her
character which leads to the sacking of Eva Smith from ‘Milwards’
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This also indicates that Eric knows his sister well, and
allows Priestley to build upon this bond across the play until they unite against their parents and present Priestley’s
socialist message at the end
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Eric is shown to steal from his father’s company in order to support Eva Smith after
he learns that she is pregnant with his child
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In
1945, this may be a sign to the audience that the rich should support the poor in more Socialist setting
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The use of the informal noun ‘chap’ presents Eric as representative as a lot of men his
age who may want to distance themselves from their family values
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Juxtaposing Mrs Birling who ‘did nothing [she’s] ashamed
of’, Eric acknowledges that ‘the girl’s dead and we all helped to kill her’
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This is reflective of the 1945 society who would have joined together after the end of World War Two
and would be seeking to make the country a better place – Priestley suggests that the only way forward is for
people to adapt from their Capitalist views (Mr and Mrs Birling) and adopt a Socialist outlook (Sheila and Eric)
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