Throughout the play, a clear message and answer is brought out. It is that even though justice is important, the law is usually incapable of delivering justice. This becomes more apparent when Alfieri warns Eddie about denouncing Marco and Rodolpho in the middle of act two. Eddie went to see the lawyer the second time and as the ‘phone booth started to glow’, Alfieri suddenly realized what was going through Eddie’s mind. In attempt to stop him from denouncing the brothers, he said “You won’t have a friend in the world…even those who understand you will turn against you, even the ones who feel the same will despise you!” This is when Alfieri places the law against justice. He is saying that it would be unjust to betray the brothers even if Eddie is obeying the American law by reporting them.
Alfieri, as a connector between the law and the characters, he constantly speaks of ‘settling for half’. This means that it is better to rely on written law as far as possible and accept it even when you are only ‘half’ satisfied. The repetition emphasizes its importance in Alfieri’s eyes and that he values the law more than justice. Alfieri sees that the written law may not always deliver justice yet it is better to follow and accept it than to take it into your own hands, like Marco and Eddie did.
After reading the play, we learn that taking the law into your own hands can lead to conflict and death. Eddie betrays Marco and Rodolpho at the end of the play and since there isn’t a law to punish Eddie for doing so, Marco goes against the law to uphold justice – to punish Eddie himself. The play concludes with a fight between them and Eddie dies in Beatrice’s arms. What we also find out is that going against the law to uphold justice affects not only the person who does so but also to those around them. Throughout the play, the Carbone family changes from a loving family into one that is shattered by distrust, betrayal and violence. Of course, other factors contributed to this but Eddie going against the law played a major part.
Furthermore, the law is also featured when Alfieri hints to Eddie about his relationship with Catherine. To persuade him to allow Rodolpho and Catherine’s marriage, he said: “when the law is wrong it’s because it’s unnatural, but in this case it is natural and a river will drown you if you buck it now.” Alfieri is suggesting that Eddie’s feelings for Catherine are ‘unnatural’. The law can’t do anything of Eddie’s high expectation.
Not only does Alfieri act as a link between the law and the characters, he also symbolizes the criminal law of America. This is the law that Eddie refers to mostly. Marco’s view of the law consists of family loyalty and believing that justice is in the hands of man and not God. This is evident when Marco questions about a law to punish Eddie for betraying his family, as he said: “He degraded my brother. My blood. He robbed my children, he mocks my work. There’s no law for that?” Alfieri replied him by saying ‘only God makes justice.’ Alfieri tries to make Marco realize who the real judge of events is. At the end, Eddie tries to take the law into his own hands to try and stand up for what he believes to be ‘justice’. However, both Eddie and Marco were influenced by their personal feelings and could no longer take an objective view of justice.
To conclude, in ‘A View from the Bridge’, those who did not ‘settle for half’ proved to be the ones who suffered. It now becomes clear why; Alfieri feels so strongly about accepting and following the law. The law, despite its limitations in satisfying everyone, gives an objective view.