Eddie Carbone lives in the heart of Brooklyn, in a working class neighbourhood. His apartment is very basic: a bedroom, kitchen and a simple main living area. In this neighbourhood everyone sticks together, everyone seems to no everyone else, they all show a great deal of respect towards each other and expect the same in return. This show of respect between the neighbors is thought of very highly and must be maintained, because of this, Eddie demanded that Marco apologised in front of everyone out in the street. He needed to keep his respect throughout the neighbourhood; he did it for his name.
Eddie is a simple man. He works on the piers when work is available. He wouldn’t betray another, and deals with others around him. However, we do see the other side of Eddie when he confronts Rodolfo and Catherine and jealousy takes over. Eddie starts to become obsessed to stop Catherine and Rodolfo seeing each other.
Carbone now seeks the advice of Alfieri, he doesn’t like what Alfieri tells him. He ignores his advice. Alfieri doesn’t force the advice on him but is persistent. “ This is my last word Eddie, take it or not, that’s your business. Morally and legally you have no right, you cannot stop it; she is a free agent.”
This is the turning point for Eddie in the story. Should he have taken Alfieri’s advice? He should have taken the advice, but instead his jealousy got the best of him. Eddie should have let Catherine got on with her life. Eddie believes in revenge. He feels Rodolfo is taking Catherine away from him, so he feels he must return the compliment.
Towards in the beginning of the story, Eddie tells Catherine about a guy who ‘snitched’ on his uncle. “You’ll never see me him no more, a guy do a thing like that/ How’s he gonna show his face? Just remember, kid, you can quicker get back a million dollars that was stole than a word that you gave away.” He expresses his disgust over and over again. We see later on how he does exactly the same and informs the Immigration Bureau. “ I want to report something. Illegal immigrants. Two of them. That’s right. Four-forty one Saxton Street, Brooklyn, yeah. Ground floor. Heh? I’m just around the neighbourhood, that’s all. Heh?”
Eddie demands respect from Beatrice. He insists they don’t go to Catherine’s wedding. This is a great example of how Eddie thinks that men are dominant. Just as he refuses to go, he now believes that Beatrice should do as he wants and stay at home. He has a rival with the other men in the neighbourhood; this is why he needs to be seen as someone who is respected by his family, especially his wife.
Alfieri identifies Eddie Carbone as the hero in this tragedy. Eddie is a simple man whom’s jealousy gets the better of him. He couldn’t take the fact that Rodolfo was going to take Catherine away from him, and he took matters into his own hands. With no respect coming from his wife and the rest of the family his beliefs were shattered. He became so envious of Rodolfo that’s when his anger grew. This soon leads to Rodolfo’s death. It could have been so easier avoided had he just listened to Alfeiri, kept a level head and let Catherine lead her own life.
