Arthur Miller Essay, Research Paper

After reading Arthur Miller’s play “A view from the bridge,”I am convinced that the most striking character is Marco. He isan Italian immigrant that moved illegally to the United Stateswith his brother Rodolpho to work as longshoremen, since at thetime (the play was written in 1955) his country of origin, Italy,was going through a major economic depression because of theoutcome of World War II. In the play, we are told that Marco’splan is to make enough money to survive and be able to send someof that money to his wife and his three kids back in Italy, whoare starving. Marco physically resembles the Sicilian stereotype,with dark skin and dark hair. He is also very strong and he couldeasily “load the whole ship by himself.”(pg.541) In this play,the author uses plot, dialog, actions and symbolism to emphasizeMarco’s honor which, in my opinion, is his prominentcharacteristic. Throughout the play, we can clearly see that the plot helpsus develop Marco’s character in our imagination. For example, heis an illegal alien, and this might give the reader a lesshonorable view of him, and it might justify Eddie’s action. Butthe fact that Marco left his family to give them support and tosave his oldest son who is “sick in the chest,” (pg. 535) makesthe reader forget about his illegal stay and makes his statusrise to the one of a hero. In this play, Marco’s actions lead us to the discovery of aviolent side which he uses to defend his honor in a number ofoccasions. For example, when he challenges Eddie to lift thechair at the end of the first act, we understand that he did itto save his brother’s face and his family’s honor. In addition,the killing of Eddie by Marco’s own hands at the end of the play,is the final display of his character. Marco’s character isdefinitely expressed more by his actions than by his words. Heis very strong, and he is obviously aware of that, but doesn’tlike to show it in words, or brag about it. In fact, when Eddiewas making fun of his brother Rodolpho, instead of replying tohim in words, he chose to use his strenght to get his pointacross by lifting the chair. In addition, Marco doesn’t talk

about his family much; instead, he works as hard as he can, andthat is enough to show everybody how much he cares about them. Asa final insult to Eddie, Marco chooses to spit in his face infront of everybody. This is because in the Italian culture, thatact is considered as an extreme expression of anger toward aperson, and it is rarely left without punishment. In addition,the action of going to the church before facing Eddie shows usthat he is very religious and cares about his soul. Marco is a very honorable man and believes in his tradition,and the author shows us that through a number of symbols. Forexample, spitting on Eddie’s face once he realizes that Eddieturned him and his brother to the police is a symbol of disgust and revolt for Eddie’s actions. In addition, at the end of theplay, we are told that Marco went to church before going to talkto Eddie. This action tells us that Marco is ready to give uphis life and commit a mortal sin to defend his honor, becausewhat Eddie has done, the breaking of the “omerta’”, the breakingof trust, is something that in his culture must never be leftunpunished. Throughout the first act of the play, Marco is only referredas a flat character and the only time we are really aware hispersona and his strength is at the end of the first act, when helifts a chair over his head and makes it seem like a challenge toEddie, as a response for mocking Rodolpho. But only in the secondact his character is fully exposed and we see his image transforminto a round character. In this play, Marco is portrayed as thevictim, since he hasn’t done anything to Eddie but he still getsarrested. In addition, although his brother Rodolpho gets awaywith it by marrying Catherine, he has no other choice but to goback to his hungry wife and sick children in Italy. Thisthoughts, and knowing that Eddie has no regrets for what he hasdone makes him furious, and at the end of the play he seeksrevenge. I belive this play would not be complete without thischaracter. If Marco would have not existed, it would have leftEddie unpunished and alive, and this would be in conflict withthe very conception of drama which drives this works.