A View From the Bridge - To what extent did Eddie Carbone bring his fate upon himself?

One of Eddies problems was that he was too overprotective of Catherine and still treated her as his 'little girl'. In act one Catherine was offered a job, however Eddie did not approve of his little girl going out into the big wide world on her own. " I want you to be with a different kind of people. I want you to be in a nice office"... In this quote Eddie is saying she is too good for that job and should stay at school. Eventually after a lot of persistent persuasion from Beatrice and Catherine he lets her take the job. Eddie's protectiveness was a good but it had reached a stage that was too protective.

Another great problem about Eddie was that he was judgmental. As soon as he saw Rodolpho he didn't like him. Eddies character is a stereotypical type man- works hard for a living, cares about his family and goes to the pub with his mates for a drink. Rodolpho's character was the total opposite, he was quite feminine. The things that showed his femininity was that he was Italian and had blonde hair, he sang on ships, and can mend cloths such as dresses. Eddie didn't give Rodolpho a chance to get to know him. You could say that Eddie thought that Rodolpho wasn't man enough for him or Catherine. An example of this is when Eddie is teaching Rodolpho how to box, by doing this he is teaching him a mans sport. Eddie asks Rodolpho to hit him in front of Catherine and Beatrice, Eddie knows that Rodolpho wont hit him however he asks him only to prove to Catherine that he's not a man. Rodolpho doesn't want to hit Eddie. "Don't pity me... you can't hurt me". Eddie says this to Rodolpho, he intimidates him. This shows the differences between Eddie and Rodolpho.

Eddie got jealous very easily. He was jealous of Rodolpho, and how his little girl, Catherine chose Rodolpho over him. Another point to mention was that Eddie turned his back on his family by calling immigration and 'grassing' on Rodolpho and Marco. In the beginning of the play Eddie tells Catherine and Beatrice not to 'grass'. "They got stool pigeons all over this neighbourhood-it could be your best friend". Ironically that is exactly what Eddie does in the end, he betrayed his family and friends.

Eddie makes two visits to Alfieri for advice. The first time he goes to see if there is any law against Catherine marrying a immigrant who 'ain't right'. "I mean he ain't right. He's a blond guy"... Alfieri could not give Eddie any help. Alfieri says to Eddie "she cant marry you can she?" He says this as if Eddie has strong feelings for Catherine but not as a daughter , however Eddie denies it. Eddies second visit to Alfieri, he is desperate and tells Alfieri that Catherine and Rodolpho are getting married. Eddie is hoping for Alfieri to say phone immigration, however he says if you phone the law a 'river will drown you' and you will have no friends. Eddie ignored Alfieri's advice and got himself killed. This shows that Eddie was very stubborn, once he had something in his mind no one can tell him otherwise, just like how he didn't like Rodolpho but never gave him a chance.

Eddies unacceptable behaviour to Rodolpho and Catherine was what eventually killed him. A good example of this was when he came home drunk to find Rodolpho and Catherine in the bedroom. He started a big argument in which he kissed Rodolpho and Catherine. He kissed Rodolpho to show Catherine that he's not a man and not right for her. He then kissed Catherine on the lips to say to Rodolpho, she's not yours she's mine, and she needs a man like me to be with. I think that Eddie succeeds in humiliating Catherine and Rodolpho, however I think that this turns Catherine even more away from Eddie and the love for Rodolpho increases. After Eddie doing what he had done and Rodolpho and Catherine were still together and still getting married, the only option left was to go behind his families back and call the immigration office. This shows that Eddie was a very stubborn, selfish, scheming, nasty man.

Another example of Eddies unacceptable behaviour which lead to his death was when he pulled a knife out on Marco, in an attempt to stab him, Marco manage to reverse the knife into Eddies chest and kill him. Eddie's behaviour was totally stupid and uncalled for.

In Alfieri's final speech he says that even though Eddie was wrong he admired him in how he fighted for his family. "I will love him more than all my sensible clients". I agree with Alfieri in the way that Eddie was a honest man, just protecting his family, however the manner in which he went about protecting his family was unacceptable. He betrayed his family, he never gave Rodolpho a chance and tried to kill Marco.

In conclusion I believe that the writer, Arthur Mills, wants you to feel sorry for Eddie Carbone. You could say that Eddie was a hardworking, loyal, family man who was just looking out for his daughter, but I believe the only person to blame for Eddies death is Eddie himself.

John Reay 10GGL