View from the bridge 2
View from the bridge 2A View from the Bridge
After reading Arthur Miller's play "A view from the bridge," I am
convinced that the most striking character is Marco. He is an Italian
immigrant that moved illegally to the United States with his brother
Rodolpho to work as longshoremen, since at the time (the play was
written in 1955) his country of origin, Italy, was going through a
major economic depression because of the outcome of World War II. In
the play, we are told that Marco's plan is to make enough money to
survive and be able to send some of that money to his wife and his
three kids back in Italy, who are starving. Marco physically resembles
the Sicilian stereotype, with dark skin and dark hair. He is also very
strong and he could easily "load the whole ship by himself."(pg.541)
In this play, the author uses plot, dialog, actions and symbolism to
emphasize Marco's honor which, in my opinion, is his prominent
characteristic.
Throughout the play, we can clearly see that the plot helps us
develop Marco's character in our imagination. For example, he is an
illegal alien, and this might give the reader a less honorable view of
him, and it might justify Eddie's action. But the fact that Marco left
his family to give them support and to save his oldest son who is
"sick in the chest," (pg. 535) makes the reader forget about his
illegal stay and makes his status rise to the one of a hero.
In this play, Marco's actions lead us to the discovery of a
violent side which he uses to defend his honor in a number of
occasions. For example, when he challenges Eddie to lift the chair at
the end of the first act, we understand that he did it to save his
brother's face and his family's honor. In addition, the killing of
Eddie by Marco's own hands at the end of the play, is the final
display of his character. Marco's character is definitely expressed
more by his actions than by his words. He is very strong, and he is
obviously aware of that, but doesn't like to show it in words, or brag
about it. In fact, when Eddie was making fun of his brother Rodolpho,
instead of replying to him in words, he chose to use his strenght to
get his point across by lifting the chair. In addition, Marco doesn't
talk...
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