Alfieri’s feelings towards all of this are very dramatic and Alfieri is also very sympathetic towards Eddie to show him that he cares. ‘‘you know, sometimes God mixes up people’’, Alfieri is telling Eddie that his emotions are mixed up. Alfieri is not judging Eddie and his is shown by the way he talks to Eddie. ‘’she can’t marry you, can she?’’ Alfieri is trying to tell Eddie that he cannot marry Catherine, so he should let her live her own life with who ever she wants. Eddie’s reaction towards this is that he is very shocked because he can’t believe that Alfieri is saying this to him. The word ‘Marry’ tells us that Alfieri thinks that Eddie wants to get married to his niece and doesn’t want to let her go. Eddie is very shocked and acts furiously towards Alfieri because of this. ‘‘it’s breakin’ my heart, y’know’’, at this stage Eddie is very heart broken and expects Alfieri to understand. We feel sorry for Eddie at this stage because of what he’s going through. Eddie cannot bear to lose Catherine to an immigrant like Rodolfo.
Alfieri talks to us about the community and its rules. The rules of the community are that it is right for people to come into their community illegally but no-one
should tell the police about these people. When Alfieri quotes ‘‘Let her go, and bless her’’ he is telling Eddie to let Catherine lead her own life with who ever she wants and that he should just bless her. But when Alfieri says this it makes Eddie want to get rid of Rodolfo even more and later phones immigration to tell them about his two illegal cousins which he wants to get rid of. When Eddie is doing this he is breaking the laws of his community.
When Alfieri quotes ‘‘The law is nature’’ he is telling Eddie that the law will do everything naturally and that he shouldn’t interfere with nature. ‘‘A river will drown you if you buck it now’’ Alfieri is telling Eddie that if he tells immigration about Rodolfo and Marco being illegal he will be letting the community down and will be breaking the rules. The word ‘Drown’ is a very strong word which is indicating that if he ignores Alfieri’s advice, he will not be respected in any way by his community and this is a threat from Alfieri to Eddie. When Alfieri quotes ‘‘even those who understand will turn against you’’ when he says this he is referring back to Vinny Balzano who snitched to the immigration about his Uncle and due to this Vinny was kicked out of his house by his Father and Brothers. ‘‘Put it out of your mind! Eddie!’’ Alfieri is telling Eddie that he should let Catherine go and then forget about it. When Alfieri calls Eddie after the quote it tells us that Eddie has already left before he even said it. As Eddie gets home he still is not convinced that he should let Catherine go and this is shown when he quotes ‘‘The guy ain’t right, Beatrice’’ he is still telling himself that Rodolfo is not right for Catherine because of his passion for her. When Eddie quotes ‘‘I’m talking to you confidential, ain’t I’’ he is asking Alfieri if he is talking to him privately and Alfieri’s response towards this is ‘‘certainly’’ and this is when Eddie reveals all to Alfieri and tells him everything. As Eddie is speaking to Alfieri he is still not very confident about showing his feeling and emotions to Alfieri due to what the consequences might be. When Eddie quotes ‘‘he put his filthy hands on her like a goddamn thief’’ Eddie is telling Alfieri that he has done everything Rodolfo and now he wants Catherine too. The word ‘Thief’ indicates that Eddie has a strong passion for Catherine and that Rodolfo is a thief for taking her from him. ‘‘What’re you talkin’ about marry me! I don’t know what the hell you’re talkin’ about!’’ Eddie is very furious as he says this because he cannot believe that Alfieri is saying something like this to him. The word ‘Hell’ tells us that Eddie is very angry and furious and that he cannot admit that what Alfieri said was true.
When Alfieri quotes ‘‘I could see every step coming, step after step’’ Alfieri is telling us that he knows the outcomes of this case and that he is worried about these outcomes. ‘‘like a dark figure walking down a hall towards a certain door’’ Alfieri is telling us that this dark figure is Eddie and that he is walking down a hallway but is confused and doesn’t know which door to go through. ‘‘I knew where he was heading for, I knew where he was going to end’’ Alfieri is telling us that he knew what Eddie was going to do and were he was going to finish. The word ‘end’ tells us that Alfieri now knew Eddie very well and knew what he was going to do. ‘‘being an intelligent man, I was so powerless to stop it’’ Alfieri is telling us that he is intelligent but was not powerful enough to stop Eddie from doing something wrong. Alfieri then quotes ‘‘I even went to a certain old lady in the neighborhood, a very wise old lady, and I told her, and she only nodded, and said ‘Pray for him….’ And so I waited here’’ Alfieri is telling us that he even went to a wise old lady for advise and told her everything about Eddie and all she said was ‘Pray for him’ and that was what he did. The words ‘Pray for him’ tell us that even though Alfieri told this wise old lady everything about Eddie her advice was to pray for him.
‘‘his eyes were like tunnels’’ Alfieri is telling us that Eddie’s eyes were like tunnels. This imagery tells us that Alfieri thought that Eddie was in serious trouble, that he had committed a crime, but later finds out ‘‘that it was a passion that had moved into his body, like a stranger’’ as Alfieri quotes later on. The word ‘Passion’ is a very powerful word and tells us that Eddie did not commit a crime, but was concealing his passion for Catherine by telling Alfieri his problems and how Rodolfo is the causes of these problems. When Eddie quotes ‘‘I know what’s in his mind, Mr Alfieri!’’ Eddie is telling us that he knows what Rodolfo is thinking and he wants to do something about this. The words ‘I know’ are very positive and indicates that Eddie is very positive about what he is saying and that he isn’t wrong. Alfieri communicates to us and talks to us about his thoughts and feelings throughout the play. Alfieri also talks to us about the community and it rules. Alfieri acts as a bridge between the community and the law of America and also between the characters and the audience.
