How does Miller present ideas about justice and the law in A View from the Bridge?
In A View from the Bridge, Miller portrays the two main methods of bringing about justice - the US Law System and the Sicilian moral code - and their many downfalls. He also uses the character of Alfieri as a symbol for the US Law System, and uses him to describe the archaic nature of the US Law system, as well as how it is ineffectual. The title of play is ‘A View from the Bridge’, and Miller portrays the way in which the characters are unable to bridge between the two cultures.
Initially, Miller presents ideas about how the US Law System is out of date and ineffectual. Alfieri, the lawyer, is the personified symbol of the US Law system in the play, and he is initially described by Miller, at the start of the play, as ‘in his fifties, turning gray’. This could possibly be used to suggest the way that the US Law system is out-of-date - by 50 years - and that it is becoming increasingly ineffectual. In addition, Alfieri himself states that ‘the law is very specific’, which goes to show the way in which the law is not very effective and cannot solve many problems. This is further compounded upon by the way in which both Eddie and Marco come to the law, seeking for assistance, but neither of them get their way, although both are coming to the legal system for very different reasons. In fact, Alfieri himself states twice how he was ‘powerless’ to stop the story running ‘its bloody course’, which goes to show that Miller believes that the US Law system is ineffectual. In fact, Alfieri himself has to state that ‘only God makes justice’, further showing how the law system is too black-and-white to be effective, and that because of that, justice is out of their power. Through this, perhaps, Miller is trying to portray the way in which major reforms need to be made to the US Law System in order for it to be effective in contemporary society.
