He is very strong and could easily “load the whole ship by himself.” In this play Miller uses plot, dialogues, action and symbolism to emphasize Marco’s honour. Marco has a prominent (noticeable) characteristic.
Throughout the play, we can clearly see that the plot makes us, the reader develop Marco’s characteristics image inside our imagination.
E.g. Marco is an illegal alien (something not in its right place) and this images makes the reader imagine Marco as a less honourable man, and this may justify Eddie’s action, but the fact that Marco left his family to give them support and to save his oldest son who is (sick in the chest) makes the reader forget about the illegal stay and makes the reader feel sympathetic towards Marco, it also gives Marco a statue of a hero.
In the play Marco’s actions lead us to the discovery of a dark side to Marco, which he uses to defend his honour and pride at many occasions.
E.g. Marco challenges Eddie to lift a chair at the end of act one, we are made to understand that he did this to save Rudolpho’s image and his family honour. The killing of Eddie by Marco’s own bare hands is the last display of his character. Marco’s character is mainly made greater by his actions and not by his words. Marco is very strong, and he is, without doubt aware of his strengths, but still he doesn’t like to show his power with words, or brag about it. For example, when Eddie was making fun of Rodolpho, instead of confronting Eddie with words, he chooses to use his strengths to get his point across by challenging Eddie to lift a chair. Marco also doesn’t really talk about his family a lot, instead he works as hard as he can so he can make the money he needs foe his family, and this is enough to show everyone how much he cares for his family.
As a last insult to Eddie, Marco spits in Eddie’s face, this is because in the Italian culture this is taken as an extreme expression of anger and uprising towards a person, and it is rarely left unpunished.
Marco is indeed a very honourable man, the author shows this to us through a number of ways, splitting Eddie’s face once he realizing that Eddie turned him and his brother into the police is a symbol of disgust and revolt for Eddie’s actions.
All though act 1 of the play, Marco is touched on as a flat character and the only time we are acquainted with his personality and his strength is at the end of act 1. When he lifts the chair over his head (like a weapon, almost) and makes it seem like an impossible task or challenge to Eddie, as a response for mocking his brother. It is only till act 2 where we see Marco’s character metamorphose into a round character. In the play Marco is shown as a victim, as he hasn’t said nor done anything to Eddie but he still gets arrested. Although his brother, Rodolpho doesn’t get arrested because he is married to Catherine, Marco is sent back to Italy to his family, a hungry wife and sick children. The thought of knowing that Eddie doesn’t care of what he has caused, makes Marco infuriated and I believe that this is what drives him towards revenge.
I believe that the play wouldn’t have been so complete without the amazing character
That is Marco. If Marco did not exist then Eddie would not have been punished foe his crimes and would still be alive and this would be an insult to the very concept of drama.
____________________________________________________________
