I do not think that the play would have worked without Alfieri as Eddie would have had know one to go to for guidance or to talk to;’ that’s what I want to ask you,’ and, ‘I want you to listen to me,’ are both examples of this. Without the advice of Alfieri, I think that Eddie would have gone to the immigration officers a lot sooner or he would have done something even worse, may even resulting to an attack or even a murder from Eddie. This is because Alfieri was persuading him not to, ‘Let her go. That’s my advice,’ and, ‘the child has to grow up and go away.’
In the play, Alfieri is stuck between the huge New York City and the poor Redhook. He is seeing the two separate views of the two areas and doesn’t quite know which one to follow as he should abide by the American law but at the same time, the law of the community is very different, and the community trust is very important in that area at that time. As a lawyer he should be following the American law but we know that he doesn’t as he doesn’t snitch on Marco and Rodolfo, illegal immigrants. He should have a good idea on what is expected by the community as he has been living there since he was a young man; ‘I have been here since I was twenty-five.’ This is the reason the play has its name, ‘a view from the bridge.’ Alfieri is stood on the bridge separating the two areas and has a view of both sides.
He may think that Eddie shouldn’t have been doing what he was, stopping Catherine, his niece, going out with Rodolfo, but he still gives legal and mental advice to Eddie, ‘There’s nothing illegal about a girl falling in love with an immigrant,’ and, ‘You have no recourse in the law, Eddie. Although he is doing this, he still helps Marco and Rodolfo as he tries to get Eddie to leave the matter and let Catherine go and live her life how she wants. Such as when he says to Eddie, ‘The child has to grow up and go away.’ He also gets them bail at the very end of the play, ‘I can bail you out until your hearing comes up.’ This suggests that he is a very loyal person to everyone.
Alfieri’s line, ‘see how uneasily they nod to me,’ suggests that he is very well known as the people are nodding but then again, he is not necessarily liked by them, this is indicated by the word ‘uneasily’. This is because he is a lawyer. ‘We’re only thought of in connection with disasters,’ is a quote which Alfieri says about himself as a lawyer.
Alfieri also plays as a dramatic device. In this role, he passes on time as there are no scenes and shows when they probably should be a change of scene, ‘On December twenty-seventh I saw him next.’ I think that using Alfieri for this is a good idea as it keeps the play flowing and is a way of splitting up fairly long periods of time; ‘On the twenty-third of December a case of scotch whisky slipped from a net while being unloaded, as a case of scotch whisky is inclined to do on the twenty-third of December on pier forty-one.’ This also tells us about what sort of things happen at the docks and maybe suggests that the families of the longshoremen are not very wealthy, and so turn to petty crime to help. It seems that Alfieri approves of this, or at least won’t do anything about it.
Alfieri’s third role is the narrator. This is very important as this is where we get all of the background information from and find out what is happening in the main storyline. In his opening speech, which is probably the longest speech in the play, he reveals to us everything we need to know about himself, the area, and a little about Eddie. ‘This is Red Hook, not Sicily. This is the slum that faces the bay on the seaward side of Brooklyn Bridge,’ also, ‘this one’s name was Eddie Carbone, a longshoreman,’ and, ‘I am a lawyer.’
Alfieri is a pretty good friend of Eddies and the rest of Eddie’s family. The quote, ‘he was as gooder man as he had to be, in a life that was hard and even,’ tells us that although he may not fully agree with what Eddie is doing, he still respects Eddie’s decisions. Eddie is a very average working class man. I think that Miller chose Eddie to be like this because he believes that a play should make sense to an average person. This is from a famous quote by Miller. ‘A play, I think, ought to make sense to common sense people.’ Because of this, most of the people in the audience should be able to understand the play fairly easily.
There are certain times in the play when Alfieri doesn’t say anything where he usually would, such as at the end of act one when Marco proves himself to be a stronger, more powerful man than Eddie. I think that Alfieri didn’t say anything there so that the audience can interpret Marco’s warning themselves and it leaves them wondering. If Alfieri had spoken to the audience and told them what had happened then the mood and suspense would be ruined and forgot about.
To sum it up, I would say that Alfieri was the most important role in the play, as if he weren’t there; then there would have been no information for the audience to interpret and they would not have any understanding of the play; the play would not flow and Miller would have had to find another, less effective, way of giving background information.
I liked the play very much and thought that the idea of having Alfieri for all three roles was a good one. I also liked the way that the play was believable and it mentioned the American dream, people being able to go to America in peace to live and work and earn money for their families. This worked well as Miller both knew the area well, and was an Italian American himself.
