" This explains to the audience that Mr Birling is a very self involved man and doesn't see Eva Smith as a person, but as an, "added twelve per cent." When everyone had been exposed, Mr Birling didn't grasp that fact that he was partly responsible. Because they believe that there was no Inspector, he feels that a lesson didn't have to be learnt.
Sheila is the next person to come across Eva Smith. She used her power to lose Eva Smith's job at a shop. At first Sheila says, "I couldn't be sorry for her," but then matures noticeably during the play.
Sheila starts as a very selfish, giddy girl. When Sheila hears about the suicide, she replies, "Oh I wish you hadn't told me," immediately making the situation about her. Then, over the course of the revelations, Sheila grows up and realises her responsibility. Her remark, "The point is, you don't seem to have learnt anything," shows that she can't understand why her parents and Gerald do not see what they have all done individually as well as a unit. .
Gerald Croft met Eva Smith at a bar. He didn't know her as Eva Smith but as Daisy Renton. He then persuaded her to move into a flat, which he was looking after. Gerald was very compassionate towards Eva Smith. He supplied her with food and money. When he reveals this, he says, "I want you to understand that I didn't install her there so I could make love to her," trying to convince the others that what he did was out of the kindness of his heart.
Although Gerald was very caring towards Eva, he was still a sneaky man. When Sheila suggests that he tells the Inspector about his involvement, he replies, "We can keep it from him," confirming that he doesn't feel as though he was an important factor in Eva Smith's death.
When Gerald first realises that a girl committed suicide, he doesn't comment much about it. It is only when he is being questioned that it hits him. "My God I've suddenly realised taken it in properly that's she's dead," informs the readers that he was emotionally distant when the inquiry didn't involve him.