Later on, the writer also shows Eric as an empathetic person, especially after hearing the news of Eva Smith. “(Involuntarily) My God!”. The way the stage directions say “Involuntarily”, which can show that he is genuinely shocked and is not for show, as even before the Inspector even mentions the name of the victim, he seemed to be mildly disturbed from hearing the news. Eric’s reaction to the death begins to create a contrast between Eric himself and Mr Birling, who didn’t seem to care as much. As well as that, the use of a short sentence shows that Eric is trying to go straight into the point and is speaking with his immediate thought of the information he has just received.