Eddie is the seccond main character on stage, and has a similar view on the law to Alfieri, twisted to suit his personal agenda, preventing Catherine from leaving him for another man. He expects Alfieri to be able to stop the marriage bettween Catherine and Rodolpho on circumstancial information that would not make a propper case anyway. Eddie's base is that Rodolpho 'aint right', and is Homosexual, based on Rodolpho's ability to sing, joke and sew. As Eddie finds Alfieri cannot and would not help him, he turns to the one option that may help him, the immigration beauro. This of course sets off the chain reaction in the close-knit italian community where they pride themselves on caring for immigrants causing Eddie to loose his 'name', and culminating in Marco's revenge, Eddie's death.
Catherine's view on the law is not as blatant as that of the men, as is Beatrice's, however they both fear Immigration, to the point of hate, however they place their faith in the law to protect Rodolpho once he has the promise of marriage from Catherine.
When he entered the country, Marco did not think of the law as THE LAW, more as vague rules that arent enforced, guidelines more than anything 'Where is the law? Is it in a book, is it written down?'. He becomes disillusioned with the law as soon as he is taken in by the Immigration officers. He finally realises that the law is completely against him and that he will have to leave america again, and the money from his job in the dockyard will cease when Alfieri explains his situation directly to him. Marco then makes his decision to confront Eddie. Ironically, when Marco stabbed Eddie it was technically self defence, putting him on the correct side of the law.
Rodolpho is in love with America from the minute he stepps off the boat, even stopping to comment of Eddie's fairly plain terraced house 'And they said they were poor!'. The law does not factor into his life untill the Immigration officers arrive. By this time he has a prommise of marriage from Catherine, so therefore the law does not apply to him. He simply carries on as normal.
Alfieri, being both a character and the narrator, has only a limited ammount of 'live' stage time, and spends most of his stage time in voiced thought to the audience. His main function in the story is to represent the law, and reason. He seems to be playing Eddie's good-concience, warning Eddie before he moves off to call immigration of the concequences. He also represents the remoteness of the law, with his seperate stage-area, and his interactions on stage only extending to Eddie. This means he is not viewing the whole picture from Marco and Rodolpho's point of view. His reason helps him to understand their views, however not how to satisfy all parties involved, nor even to punish the guilty. He is also a dramatic devide, used to stimulate audience interest by describing the coming events so the audience will be able to concentrate on the tension and the route taken to arrive at the event without having to guess as to what will happen next, Predictive Narration.
The rest of the characters share a much more intimate relationship. As the story begins, the audience will become aware of the sexual connection bettween Eddie and Catherine, and the lack of one bettween Eddie and Beatrice. Once the story progresses, this begins to make more sense as it becomes clear Eddie has kept Catherine in the house to prevent her from meeting other men. This excessivley posessive nature is possible to ignore when Eddie is the dominant male in the household, however when Catherine leaves for school or shopping, he feels threatened and complains to Catherine over her 'too short' skirt and high heels. When Marco and Rodolpho enter the dynamic, he doesn't at first recognise the threat, however after a small ammount of time he is back on the defence again, this time in un-avoidably close conditions. Marco and Rodolpho do not understand his feelings for his niece, and as such Rodolpho begins to move in on her. Eddie forms the impression of Rodolpho as a significant threat and begins to warn him off not-so subtly, beginning with the boxing match (Marco realises is symbolism, and offers a direct threat to Eddie with the chair, proving his strength over Eddie's) and escalates through the homosexuality accusations to the final call to the Immigration Buro. At this point Eddie realises what he has done, and begins to make excuses for his actions. When the community brushes this away and exposes him, he begins to obsess, immagining to himself that his reputation is something he can claim back by defeating Marco. At the same time Marco is realising his position and becoming more and more enraged that Eddie has 'taken the food from the mouths of my children', and resolves to avenge his deportation before it can be enforced. When they eventually meet it is ironic that Rodolpho, the catalyst that started the reaction, is the one trying to stop the two from fighting at all.
In a way, the close-knit nature of the family causes the whole structure to be ripped appart once the situation is changed. As Rodolpho makes Eddie jelous, and Marco threatens him, Eddie builds up his anger. When he releases this towards Rodolpho by assaulting him, he looses his link with Catherine. This further enrages him to the point where anything is fair game, as Catherine was a huge part of his life before Rodolpho and Marco arrived, and he decides to call the Immigration buro. This summons the Blood-Lust in Marco, and causes Eddie to loose his 'name'. This causes both of them to come to a confrontation, in which Eddie is killed, and the whole family structure is ripped appart. In contrast, Alfieri's link with the family was a passing aquaintance, meaning that he simply watched from a distance. His lack of power over the events allows him to continue his daily life without disruption. Perhaps this is the Half of which Alfieri speaks as the play closes, with the family functioning as a whole unit, each part relying on another in a complex interlocking fassion, causing the problems.
The play is structured so that the information is given before the main action via Alfieri, however the structure of the sections bettween Alfieri's appearances is quite detailed. The beginning section shows the lack of a sexual link bettween Eddie and Beatrice and the odly-placed link bettween Eddie and Catherine, but also shows that the family as a whole is functioning OK. As the play progresses, it becomes clear that Rodolpho and Marco have distorted the priorities of the family, meaning they no-longer fit as normal, representing the fragility of human dynamics, and also the ability to forge new links in the face of disruption. The closing sections show the sexual link bettween Eddie and Catherine has been broken, as Catherine 'can't stay here(with eddie) no more' and instead spends most of her time out with Rodolpho. This is another factor to Eddie's anger, although he cannot direct it towards Rodolpho singly, as Eddie knows in his heart that Rodolpho has not done anything seriously wrong. At this point the audience is supposed to be sympathising with most characters apart from Eddie. Many viewers could be repulsed by Eddie kissing Rodolpho, however they can empathise with the rest of the cast's problems adjusting to their new way of life, especialy Rodolpho and Marco.
Once the play has finished, the audience will probably be still realising the deeper meanings of the play, such as the fragility of the balances in each home, with each family forming friendships through the community. Any of these balances can be tipped, rippling through society and breaking frienships bettween families, maybe even escalating into violence bettween any of the families in any community, and the the law is powerless to stop the petty squables early enough to prevent it. Personally i believe that Miller was aiming to create a play that is watchable on many levels, appealing to both the Joe Average and those that study plays specifically. His previous experiences make it probable that he is attempting with this play to cry out against the law's flaws, and make his views known more publicly. However he meant the audience to watch the play, I enjoyed it personally, which has got to be a major objective of every play writer!