As the story unfolds, the characters will discover that American law is often inadequate to deal with moral disputes and that they have to resort to the law of their Italian community to provide justice, “in my country he would be dead now”.
However, the meaning of justice itself is also controversial to the characters of the play as they have different opinions on the subject.
Alfieri’s office is significant in that it is where we hear Eddie voice his true thoughts, “I’m talking to you confidential, ain’t I?”, and where he decides to take the fatal step of calling the Immigration Bureau. Here we also see Alfieri try to convince Marco not to murder Eddie while he is on bail, “to promise not to kill is not dishonourable”.
The characters, especially Eddie, see the law as being flexible. They live in a country with strict laws and yet they follow the code of their Italian community which often clashes with American law. They therefore have no qualms about breaking some of the laws of the American system of justice, “Don’t worry about it B., there’s nothing to it”.
The living room of Eddie’s apartment is a central location in the play. This small room is where most of the events in the play take place. The compactness of a living room displays the insularity of the family-based Italian community. The tight community around the characters also creates great tension in the Carbone family because they are constantly being watched, “because we never had no singers here…and all of a sudden there’s a singer in the house, y’know what I mean?” The neighbours knew when Marco and Rodolpho arrived, saw Marco spit in Eddie's face and Eddie die by Marco's hand. The community is the watcher; the group controls and monitors the behaviour of every member, “They got guys all over the place”.
A strong value of Eddie’s American-Italian community was that of betrayal being injustice. Eddie tells Catherine the story of Vinny Bolzano both as a warning and to show us his belief in loyalty to family and community, “a guy do a thing like that? How’s he gonna show his face?”. Ironically, Eddie ultimately does exactly the same thing of which he has spoken with such horror. Eddie warns Catherine that "you can quicker get back a million dollars that was stole than a word that you gave away". He later experiences the awful truth of this: Lipari, his wife, Louis and Mike, the stage representatives of the wider community, one by one leave Eddie standing alone, symbolising his isolation. The Italian community supply their own justice for the misdeeds the American system does not recognise as crimes, “the law is not interested in this”.
In his ignorance, Eddie believes that the law should follow his moral code. Alfieri tries to explain that the law does not necessarily meter out Eddie’s view of what justice should be and yet Eddie’s simple-mindedness keeps him from accepting this, “you mean to tell me that there’s no law…” While Eddie is ambivalent and switches his allegiance between ethnic and state laws and cultures, his selfish motivations do not change. He is willing to forsake American law in welcoming immigrants into his home as they are disadvantaged in Italy, “they probably didn’t see a tablecloth in their whole life where they come from” and yet he later forsakes the Italian communal code by betraying them to the authorities. Eddie feels that in courting Catherine without his approval, Rodolpho is forsaking the Italian code of propriety and deserves the repercussions, “wouldn’t he ask your father’s permission before he run around with you like this?” However, with the amalgamation of the American and Italian communities, this custom of having prior family approval of suitors, is no longer necessary and therefore the Italian community does not support Eddie in his opinions.
While Eddie is consumed in seeking justice for his problems he is blind to the injustice he is causing others. He is ignorant of his obsessive nature over Catherine and sees his actions as justifiable as those of a responsible guardian. He is unwilling to allow her to accept a job as a stenographer, “you’ll never get nowheres unless you finish school” and gain independence and he is uncomfortable with her starting to wear more mature clothing, “I think it’s too short, ain’t it?” He also does not treat Beatrice as a loving husband should and although she obviously still loves him, “you’re an angel! God’ll bless you!” the feelings do not seem to be mutual. He resents that she has noticed his lack of affection and is quick to defend himself when she approaches the subject, “I ain’t been feelin’ good”. There are several moments in the play where the audience is given clues that Eddie's love for Catherine may not be normal, “he reaches out suddenly, draws her to him, and as she strives to free herself he kisses her on the mouth”. Although Eddie seems unable to understand his feelings for his niece until the end of the play, other characters are aware. Beatrice is the first to express this possibility in her conversation with Catherine, “you still walk around in front of him in your slip”. Whether she expresses her thoughts to Catherine to protect her from Eddie or because of her jealousy of Eddie’s attraction to Catherine is not clear. also realizes Eddie's feelings during his first conversation with Eddie, “his eyes were like tunnels”. Eddie does not comprehend his feelings until Beatrice clearly articulates his desires in the conclusion of the play, “You want somethin' else, Eddie, and you can never have her!”
The second act opens with an episode which relies equally on the stage action, as the drunken Eddie kisses both Catherine (to show her how a "real man" kisses) and Rodolpho (partly to show Catherine that he enjoys it, and that his failure to resist it is significant; partly, just to humiliate Rodolpho). The first kiss (which is near-incestuous) and the second (because a man kisses another) will repel the audience. In 1955, when the play was first performed, the double kiss would have been utterly shocking. Eddie has lost the audience's sympathy, and loses it yet further when he calls the immigration authorities. At the time, we see how the phone-booth gradually lights up, symbolising the triumph of Eddie's desperation over his conscience.
The telephone booth, although it is only used once in the play, is on the stage constantly as a warning and a reminder that the possibility of betrayal is an issue for Eddie throughout. The pivotal point in the play takes place in the booth: Eddie makes the fatal choice of going against his community and family, “you won’t have a friend in the world Eddie!” He cannot turn back.
Marco and Rodolpho follow Sicilian law and social custom. However, Marco follows these laws more strictly than Rodolpho. At the play's conclusion, Marco seeks revenge, “He degraded my brother. My blood. He robs my children, he mocks my work,” whereas Rodolpho asks for forgiveness from Eddie and even offers to kiss his hand before marrying his daughter, “it was wrong that I do not ask your permission. I kiss your hand”. The lawlessness of Marco and Rodolpho are far overshadowed by Eddie. Whereas Marco and Rodolpho break laws in order to escape poverty in Italy and provide for their families, Eddie acts solely to protect his own wishes. However, neither Marco, Eddie, nor Rodolpho can receive their ideas of justice from American law.
Marco is a very unselfish person – he understands that the survival of his family in Italy depends on him staying in America and so he is submissive and tolerant of Eddie’s often disgraceful behaviour towards Rodolpho,”Yes, yes. You’ll be quiet Rodolpho”. However, Marco, in his show of strength at the end of Act 1, shows that although he is putting up with Eddie at the moment, he could defeat him in a fight whenever he wanted to. This is the only time he asserts himself as he is mostly passive to retain Eddie’s hospitality. Marco understands that the brothers’ position in America is both fragile and volatile and it is up to Eddie to keep their existence a secret.
Rodolpho is a generally caring and devoted person. Although Eddie is often very offensive towards Rodolpho, he either ignores or does not notice Eddie’s sarcasm, “I know lemons are green for Christ’s sake”. He loves Catherine and wants to live in America. Rodolpho is prepared to settle for half as he is allowed to stay in America because of his marriage to Catherine but his brother Marco is about to be deported. He has everything he was looking for in America but he has lost his brother in the process.
The last scene of the play shows Marco coming to confront Eddie. In turning against his community and abiding by the state laws, Eddie has lost the respect of his community and friends and the name and personal identity he treasures. Marco is coming to punish Eddie; Eddie in return will demand his "name" back. Marco believes it is dishonourable to let Eddie live, “he knows such a promise is dishonourable” but has given his word not to kill him. Eddie's pulling a knife means that Marco can see justice done, while keeping his word. Again the action is symbolic of the play's deeper meaning. Eddie literally dies by his own hand, which holds the knife, and is killed by his own weapon; but Eddie also metaphorically destroys himself, over the whole course of the play. This is the idea that Alfieri introduces to us at the play's opening: the sight of a man destroying himself, while those around him are as powerless as a theatre audience to prevent it. As Eddie dies, he must return to Beatrice because she is the only one left who truly needs his approval, since Catherine now has Rodolpho, “My B!” In these final moments, Beatrice seems to have power over Eddie—for the first time he seeks out her forgiveness and love. The final victor of the play is symbolic of community values—the Italian, Marco. This displays that the small community is stronger than American law.
In this outcome of events, no one wins. Eddie has lost the respect of his community and ultimately, his life. Beatrice has lost a husband and Catherine has lost a father figure. Marco will be deported back to Italy. Rodolpho, although he has gained American citizenship, has lost a brother. If anyone has won, it is the American Immigration Bureau, but it can be seen that America has lost a hard-working, honest man in deporting Marco.
Arthur Miller’s use of places in A View From The Bridge effectively displays the insular atmosphere of an Italian-American community. Marco and Rodolpho are both free of the confinement of this community: Marco frequented places such as Africa and Yugoslavia, “Yeah, they follow them all over the ocean, Africa, Yugoslavia…” and Rodolpho was prepared to take Catherine to Broadway, “I would like to go to Broadway once” however Eddie’s furthest excursion was to Staten Island. Although Eddie is a free American citizen, Miller conveys the idea that Marco and Rodolpho were more free men as illegal immigrants than Eddie will ever be. Miller’s use of places also shows aspects of the characters personalities; the fact that one of the first places Rodolpho visits is Broadway displays both his love of singing and his intent to live the “American Dream”, “I want to be a citizen”.
In a new production of A View From The Bridge, I would make the presence of the telephone booth very obvious – perhaps having a very dim blue light shining on it until the point where Eddie makes the decision to call the Immigration Bureau, where the light would brighten. This would highlight the fact that the option of calling the Immigration Bureau was always an option for Eddie in the back of his mind and that he simply took the last fatal step towards his downfall when he stepped into the booth. I would also make the Carbones’ living room very homely and quite small to emphasise the insularity of the family group and the American-Italian community at large.
In A View From The Bridge, Arthur Miller shows that the law can often be seen as inadequate by telling the story of a family whose moral code does not agree with that of American Law. The main theme of the play – “settling for half” is displayed in that no character ends up with a perfect happy ending.
