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Gerald Croft
Eric is the son of the family. He disapproves of his father’s decision to deny Eva Smith’s request for higher wages, and becomes drunk and upset throughout the course of the evening, which prompts Sheila to expose him as a heavy-drinker, unbeknownst to his parents. In the middle of the play, Eric storms out of the house. When Eric returns, he admits to being exactly the person—Eva Smith’s impregnator—that his mother had most blamed for the girl’s suicide, and to having stolen money from his father. His parents are ashamed of him and continue to remind him what he’s done; but he is likewise ashamed of them for overlooking the true significance of the bad deeds that they all have been exposed as having committed. He joins Sheila in her judgment of their parents’ ignorance and in her regard for the significance of the facts at hand.
Eric Quotes in An Inspector Calls
The An Inspector Calls quotes below are all either spoken by Eric or refer to Eric. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Act 1
Quotes
Birling: It’s a free country, I told them.
Eric: It isn’t if you can’t go and work somewhere else.
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Act 3
Quotes
There’ll be plenty of time, when I’ve gone, for you all to adjust your family relationships.
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This girl killed herself—and died a horrible death. But each of you helped to kill her. Remember that. Never forget it. But then I don’t think you ever will.
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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.
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Eric Quotes in An Inspector Calls
The An Inspector Calls quotes below are all either spoken by Eric or refer to Eric. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 1
Quotes
Birling: It’s a free country, I told them.
Eric: It isn’t if you can’t go and work somewhere else.
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Explanation and Analysis:
Act 3
Quotes
There’ll be plenty of time, when I’ve gone, for you all to adjust your family relationships.
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This girl killed herself—and died a horrible death. But each of you helped to kill her. Remember that. Never forget it. But then I don’t think you ever will.
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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.
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