He is very protective of his niece and does not like the amount of attention that she is getting from other boys in the community. He is concerned about her new job and finds it difficult to accept that she is no longer a child. He is not aware of his feelings for his niece and, at this point, neither is the reader. The jealousy could be a normal feeling for an uncle as he had always been the most important man in her life and now she is meeting other men. It later becomes obvious that he is in love with Catherine. She loves Eddie like a father and is desperate for his approval in everything she does – her new job, her clothes, her hair and her choice of husband. However, Eddie does not approve of much and always mentions other men when giving a reason or his disapproval.
Another conflict in the play is that of Eddie and Rodolpho. Rodolpho is Beatrice’s cousin from Italy who comes to stay with them illegally along with his brother, Marco. Rodolpho sings cooks and sews which Eddie feels is ‘not right’. Eddie uses this and other things to try and convince Catherine that he is not right for her. There is conflict between them when Eddie lectures him about respecting women:
“I seen greenhorns sometimes get in trouble that way – they think that just because a girl don’t go around with a shawl over her head that she ain’t strict.”
Eddie deliberately creates a lot of tension and awkwardness between them. He does not have any real reason to dislike Rodolpho, but because he is extremely jealous of him and Catherine’s relationship, he tries to make things difficult for him. Since Rodolpho’s arrival, he is strangely unwelcoming and hostile. When Rodolpho speaks, he chooses to ignore him and when Eddie speaks, he directs the conversation at Marco, trying to make Rodolpho feel uneasy and isolated. Eddie is clearly bothered by the confident way that Rodolpho conducts himself and how entertaining and likeable he is. He tries to belittle him by criticising his abilities to cook, sew and sing and implies that he is not masculine enough. He hopes that this will show Catherine that she should not be with him.
The final and most intense conflict is between Eddie and Marco at the end of the play. Eddie finally realises that Catherine has made a decision to be with Rodolpho and there is nothing that he can do to stop her. He calls the Immigration Bureau and has Marco and Rodolpho arrested. There is conflict between Eddie and Marco as Marco knows that Eddie is responsible:
“That one! He killed my children! That one stole the food from my children!”
Eddie’s actions would cause him to be isolated from the whole community. He lives in a community which helps illegal immigrants and was aware that he would be turned against but his attempts to protect Catherine had gone too far. He loses the respect of his community, family and friends and cares more about this than Marco’s starving children. His lack of remorse shows is selfish personality. A fight starts between Marco and Eddie and Eddie is killed with his own knife.
The most important conflict in the play is Eddie’s inner conflict. He found it easier to fault Rodolpho and cause conflict than to admit his own shameful feelings for his niece. His elfish behaviour caused many unnecessary conflicts throughout the play and ultimately lead to his death. If he had managed to solve his conflicts with himself, he would have saved his own life and saved much hurt for his family.