Consider the role of law and justice in “A View From The Bridge”

Consider the role of law and justice in “A View From The Bridge” by Arthur Millar

Law and justice play very important parts in this play. However, they mean very different things. In “A View From The Bridge” the law of the land, and justice to the people of Redhook mean very different things. This is because a large percentage of the population are immigrants from Italy or Sicily, and some of them illegal. “They been pullin’ this since the immigration law was put in”. This means that the community in Redhook is like a large family. Therefore there is a very strong community law where the immigrants live which defines the people’s respect for one another. To the people of Redhook, their community law is justice. Millar himself worked at the docks in which some of the main characters work in the play. Therefore he has first hand evidence of what the atmosphere of the place is like and the respect that workers have for each other and their families. In this essay I will look at the differences between law and justice by comparing them to situations involving some of the main characters from the play including Eddie, Alfieri, Rodolfo, Marco, and Catherine.

The most important of these ‘laws’ is that nobody should reveal the information of illegal immigrants entering the area, as the immigrants are most likely somebody’s relatives. It also means that the people who have been hiding the immigrants are in danger from immigration officers. A good example of what happened to somebody who reported illegal immigrants is when Vinny Bolzano reports his uncle to the officers “pulled him down the stairs- three flights…they spit on him on the street” Spitting on a relative in the street shows how disgusted the family were with Vinny, as the rest of the neighbourhood would have been watching, so they could let everyone know how they felt. It then goes on to say “The whole neighbourhood was cryin’”. This shows how the whole of the neighbourhood felt sorry for the family, and felt the same way, because of the strong community law.

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Alfieri plays a strong part in the law of the land. This is because he is a lawyer, so he can tell the community what they can and cannot do. However, the community of Redhook think of lawyers as unlucky “to meet a lawyer… on the street is unlucky”. This shows how the community are not happy with the idea of the law of the land, which links to the reason behind their community law. Alfieri states, “If he obeys the law he lives”. This shows how Alfieri has all of the answers about the law, and the lawful things that people should do. However, Not everybody follows his advice. After Alfieri has delivered this line to Marco, he still goes against Alfieri’s word and kills Eddie. This shows how strong the community law is around Redhook, as Marco wants to get revenge.

There is a link between the two countries of America and Sicily in the play. Marco says “In my country he would be dead by now” as the community law in his home country would have been the same as in Redhook, and Marco would have killed Eddie by now. This also shows how much Marco wants to get revenge on Eddie, as he is making excuses to kill him.

When Eddie finds out that Catherine is in love with the immigrant Rodolfo, he feels that something should be done to split them up because he cares too much about Catherine. Therefore he goes to see Alfieri to see what can be done. However Alfieri says, “There is nothing illegal about a girl falling in love”. This shows how Eddie is wrong, as Alfieri states the obvious. The only reason he can think of for splitting them up is “The manner in which they entered the country”. We can see Eddie’s reaction to the prospect of reporting Rodolfo and Marco to the immigration officers: “Oh, Jesus, no, I wouldn’t do nothin’ like that”. From this response we can see how disgusted Eddie is with the idea of reporting them. This shows the irony of the situation however, as at the end of the play, Eddie does report the immigrants to the officers to split up Catherine and Rodolfo. Near the end of the play, after the immigration officers have caught Marco and Rodolfo, Marco spits in Eddie’s face. This reflects the situation that was told to Catherine about Vinny Bolzano, as his family also spat in his face in the street. From this we can see how strongly Marco believes in Justice, and how Eddie’s community law does not mean as much to him as his feelings for Catherine. This is quite surprising considering Eddie’s reaction to the thought of reporting the immigrants earlier.

Alfieri describes a lot of justice in his opening speech. One of the examples he uses is when talking about gangsters in the area, who were unlawful. He describes them shooting people as just: “Justly shot by unjust men”. This shows how although he practises the law, he thinks that these people shooting others was just. This clearly shows how even a lawyer knows that law and justice are not always the same. He says that it was just to shoot the men, and that the men were unjust, and so deserved to be shot by other men who were breaking the law to shoot them. He then goes on to say that “Justice is very important here”. This shows that although the law does not always mean justice, it is still important to him.

When talking to Marco, Alfieri says “To promise not to kill is not dishonourable”. Here he is telling Marco that he should promise not to kill Eddie, as it would not be dishonourable. He would still be respected. Alfieri is trying to persuade Marco to follow the law of the land and not the community law that he was brought up to follow. This is hard for Marco to do, as he believes very strongly in Justice as most people do, yet he cannot have justice because of the law. This is ironic, as the law should give people justice, yet in situation like this it does not. It was just for Marco to enter the country, as he had to feed his wife and children, yet it was against the law. It was unjust for Eddie to report Marco, yet it was lawful.

In conclusion I feel that justice and the law do not follow each other. Millar obviously believes this as well, as he shows so much evidence to make the audience think about the differences between the two. He shows that different people see justice in different ways. For example Marco sees justice as working in the country to feed his family “He killed my children”, but Eddie sees justice as reporting him so that he can keep Catherine to himself, and Rodolfo will not take her away from him. Therefore we can see that there are many tensions between law and justice, because the community law is so strong, and the respect for other people in their community is so strong.