“You are walkin’wavy! I don’t like the looks they’re givin’ you in the candy store. And with them new high heels ... the heads are turnin’ like windmills.”
At first it seems that he is simply concerned for his niece’s wellbeing. Also, feeling jealous could be considered completely normal for him as he has always been the most important man in her life and if she finds a husband, he no longer will be. However, later events make it clear that it is something more sinister – his desire for his niece. He wants to keep her for himself and is afraid of any other man taking her from him.
Another way that jealousy is explored in the play is through Eddie’s negative attitude towards Rodolpho. Rodolpho is Beatrice’s cousin from Italy who has come to stay with them illegally along with his older brother Marco and Catherine takes an immediate liking to him. Superficially, Eddie dislikes him as he believes that he just wants his passport, but the reader is aware that Eddie sees Rodolpho as a threat. Eddie feels that Rodolpo “aint right” because he enjoys singing, dancing and cooking and he tries hard to convince Catherine to feel the same:
“That’s why the waterfront is no place for him... if I could cook, if I could sing, if I could make dresses ... I would be like in a dress store.”
Eddie tries to convince Catherine that she should not be with Rodolpho by embarrassing him and making him feel uneasy. He belittles Rodolpho, and tries to make him seem feminine and weak, to make himself appear stronger and more able to protect Catherine. He hopes that by doing this he will convince her to stay at home with him and not to marry Rodolpho. He is aware that Catherine desperately seeks his approval in everything that she does and believes that if he makes it clear that he disapproves of Rodolpho, Catherine will no longer want to be with him. The fact that he is unsuccessful increases his jealousy enormously and by continuously treating Rodolpho this way, he unintentionally creates conflict with Marco.
His jealousy forces him to completely change when he feels that there is nothing more that he can do to stop them being together. They have announced that they are going to marry, meaning that Rodolpho would then legally live in the country. Eddie calls immigration on Marco and Rodolpho in a last desperate attempt to break them up:
“I want to report something. Illegal immigrants. Two of them.”
By doing this he betrays Catherine and instead of earning her respect, which he would have done if he had simply accepted their relationship, turns her completely against him and she describes him as a “rat” and says he “belongs in the sewers”. He also betrays Marco who can no longer send money to his wife and children. This causes Marco to seek revenge on Eddie and they have a fight which ends tragically with Eddie being killed by his own knife.
Earlier in the play, Eddie had told the story of Vinny Blozano, a teenage boy, who had called immigration on his uncle who was living at his home illegally. He told the story to highlight the importance of loyalty to family and immigrants in their community:
“You’ll never see him no more, a guy do a thing like that? How’s he gonna show his face?”
He is disgusted at Vinny’s behaviour and he makes it clear to Catherine that this is something that their community is completely against. The fact that he is so critical of Vinny’s actions shows that his similar actions were driven completely by jealousy. He knew that he would face similar consequences but his lust for Catherine had completely taken over and made him betray himself – the good man that he used to be.
Eddie’s jealousy is a main concern in the play and it is explored through conflict between him and many characters in the play, including himself. Eddie’s increasing jealousy and selfishness causes a tragic ending to the play for many characters. The jealousy explored makes the play more interesting and enjoyable and increases the readers understanding of Eddie’s feelings and of the play as a whole.