The Character of Gerald Croft

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  • Gerald Croft
    • Similar to Arthur Birling
      • "You couldn't have done anything else" shows that Gerald supports Mr Birling's sacking of Eva Smith which suggests that he thinks the same way that Mr Birling does
      • At the end of the play, Gerald returns to tell the Birlings that "that man wasn't a police officer" and "there isn't any such inspector" while Birling phones the police station to confirm this which shows that they are both determined to prove that the Inspector was fake
      • When Arthur Birling explains his idea of the "Crofts and Birlings are no longer competing but working together", Gerald says "Hear, hear! And I think my father would agree to that" which shows that he is also business-minded like Mr Birling
      • The fact that Gerald is so similar to Mr Birling shows that the younger generation can be just as selfish and old-fashioned as the older generation, despite Eric and Sheila's characters being the opposite of this
    • Upper Class
      • At the end of the play, Gerald tries to  gather as much evidence as possible to show that the Inspector is fake "by ringing up the Infirmary" and by proving that "there's still no proof that it was the same girl" in order to protect his reputation
      • Gerald is described in the stage directions at the start of the play as being "the easy well-bred young man about town" which suggests that he is respectable
      • Gerald uses the euphemism "women of the town" for prostitutes which shows that he is of the upper class and is respectable
      • Geralds says he "broke it off defintiely before I went" which shows how people of the upper class mistreated lower class women - Priestley includes Gerald instead of just the Birling Family to show the widespread of this issue
    • Not Guilty
      • When questioned about his role in Eva / Daisy's life, he replies "I want you to understand that I didn't install her there to make love to her... I was sorry for her" and defends his position to sound like he hasn't done anything wrong
      • Gerald says that Eva / Daisy "gave me a glance that was nothing less than a cry for help" - this imagery makes it seem that Gerald rescued Eva, which he uses to try to make himself seem less responsible

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