The Analysis Of Eric Birling

In the play of an inspector calls by J.B Priestely, One of the most important roles was Eric Birling; Mr.Birling and Sybil’s youngest son, also Sheila’s Brother, who seemed to be a careless person who cared about nothing but getting drunk and alcohol in general as he seemed squiffy in the beginning of act 1 which shows how of a careless, useless person he was, and was shown as a disappointment to his parents as he was caring about literally nothing even that his parents had paid a lot for his education that he could’ve taken it for granted and step up with his life and character development.

Furthermore, Eric has lacked parental love and affection which could’ve been a reason of his actions as he stole money for hidden purposes, heavy drinking, etc… that has literally crashed his disposition the most glowing star at this point was when Eric said 'You're not the kind of father a chap can go to when he's in trouble.' That showed how he didn’t even have any faith in his dad to help him when he’s drowning in a trouble.

And as Gerald Croft appeared entering their family; Eric was always getting compared to him as there was a huge conflict between them both; that Gerald has used his family wealth and society class well and found a bride to set off a family which was low-key for business issues between families, whilst Eric was with no use but busy wiping alcohol out of earth to feed his inner filthy desires.

From his major flaws; was being a two-faced person that always was either a hypocrite or acting like a person that isn’t him and always acted like dad’s little boy in front of his family, when he was a teenager in acts; as the dramatist described him with ‘in his mid-twenties, not quite at ease, half shy, half assertive’; it is as if he had something to hide from people that could’ve been a shame to his family and their reputation, he was always a drunkard and never looked after his acts nor decisions and the biggest proof for that was when he got Eva Smith Pregnant with his child illegally when they weren’t even married that showed how he had no self-control nor holding back his emotions and feelings as he said 'I was in that state when a chap easily turns nasty.' that he raped the innocent girl which somehow showed power abuse; as raping is forced power and Eva was from a lower class so he took her as a ‘mistress’ and fed his inner desire.

This showed how of an irresponsible person he was, also Eric seemed a bit unsecured because when he was in front of his dad he always acted innocent when he actually wasn’t.

Also Eric seems to lack confidence as in his dad irrupting him constantly whenever he talks and never let him do whatever his boat flows, he has also said a quote in the first act that focused on this point “I don’t know- really. Suddenly I felt I just had to laugh”, when his dad was shocked of his sudden act of laughing when there was nothing to laugh at.

On the other hand, Eric needed a bit of freedom and space as he was growing up to be an adult who’ll need to hold a family and a house since he’ll be responsible of his good and bad deeds, that his parents had to participate in that role, so he could be a morally high-quality person, as at that time people were way too judgmental.

However, Eric started to realize what was going on about the investigation as he tried to shade a lot about ‘Eva’s’ thing as he said “No, I mean about this girl, Eva Smith. Why shouldn’t they try for higher wages? We try for the highest possible prices, and I don’t see why she should have been sacked just because she’d a bit more spirit more than the others.” Where he clearly was trying to show sympathy and pity after he heard of her death.

Eric was clearly a bit distressed and worried to be questioned in this case, since he had a feeling she was that girl he had an affair with.

Eric is shown in the play as an arrogant kid to his parents, as he tried to stand up for them couple of times. And in act three he’s said “whoever that chap was, the fact remains that I did what I did. And mother did what she did. And the rest of you did what you did to her. It’s still the same rotten story whether it’s been told to a police inspector or to somebody else. According to you, I ought to feel a lot better- I stole some money, Gerald, you might as well know- I don’t care let him know. The money’s not the important thing. It’s what happened to the girl and what we all did to her that matters. And I still feel the same about it, and that’s…”.

In the quote above; Eric has said ‘I did’ ‘she did’ ‘mother did’ that showed how Eric’s character was developing bit by bit and he stood up to face reality and to persuade himself of what they have done as it was a horrible thing to be done without even realizing, and he had guts to blame whoever and face them with what they’ve did as he blamed his mother for his child’s and Eva’s death saying 'You killed her- and the child she'd have had too- my child!' as well as her grandchild.

He started to taste the bitterness of committing a mistake like that and noticed that they all are guilty as he used the pronoun ‘we’ in a nominative case as he said: 'We helped to kill her.' To emphasis that it wasn’t only an individual mistake but a bunch of people’.

Moving on, Eric started standing to his Dad as he said ‘I don’t care, let him know’ that he wanted to finally be responsible of his unpleasant deeds and tell the truth and stop covering up things such as Eva’s pregnancy and the theft of the money he stole to help Eva.

However, Eric’s role was super important affecting the stage directions as he appeared in surprising moments when he was supposed to get called and that was a slight dramatic effect from the dramatist to startle the audience as they were just thinking of Eric; expecting his appearance on theatre.

Eric’s appearance on the theatre had a purpose in the drama, hence the dramatist wanted to show how were the young generations back then and how they’ll develop and make a change in the rotten era people lived in that time.

As we should always appreciate the filled half of a water cup; we need to appreciate the good deeds and the change in the atmosphere they lived in as Eric was a foreshadowing for the world war that mid-aged people will join.