Discuss the importance of LOYALTY in Millers Essay

Loyalty is one of the big themes in this play and most people are loyal to each other in the neighborhood, because there are quite a few illegal immigrants living there and working at the piers, so everyone trusts everyone else. This shows loyalty between this neighborhood because no one would snitch on anybody else. Because people understand that life is hard back home and they need the money to help their families, because perhaps there isn’t any work to earn the money they need, so they come to a better country hoping they have a better life there. Eddie and Beatrice are happily married, and live together in an apartment with Beatrice’s niece, Catherine. Beatrice as Eddie’s wife is very loyal and loves Eddie, he also loves Beatrice very much, but he is not as loyal to her as she is to him. I can see this on page 24, when Beatrice says to Eddie, â€Å"When am I gonna be a wife again, Eddie? † I think that Beatrice is insecure about how Eddie feels about her and their marriage. It seems that Eddie is paying more attention to Catherine then Beatrice, because he is worried that Rodolfo is taking Catherine for a ride, but he isn’t, Eddie is just getting worried over nothing, but Beatrice thinks that Eddie may think that she is just jealous, but she is just insecure about the way Eddie really feels about Catherine. Beatrice respects Eddie so much, I can see this because when Eddie is telling Beatrice that nobody will go to that wedding until Marco apologizes to him, on page 61 and Beatrice’s response to this was, â€Å"I cant Katie, I cant†¦ She says this because Eddie had already told her before that if she goes to that wedding then she as well not come back. So Beatrice obviously chose her husband and his wishes, rather than go to her nieces wedding. This proves that Beatrice is loyal and would do anything for Eddie. However, Eddie is not so faithful to Beatrice. Evidence of this is on page 47 when Eddie kisses Catherine on the mouth; I can see that she didn’t want Eddie to do that because the text says, ‘he reaches out suddenly, draws her to him, and as she strives to free herself, he kisses her on the mouth! Then suddenly Rodolfo pulls on Eddies arm and says, â€Å"Don’t! Stop that. Have respect for her. † Rodolfo obviously thinks that what Eddie is doing is wrong and he is trying to stop him. Like I mentioned before, Catherine lives in the same apartment as Eddie, and they get along really well, in fact a little to well. Catherine is a 17 year old young woman, she wants to prove to people that she isn’t a little girl anymore, but Eddie is having some trouble believing that. For example on page 5, Catherine comes in wearing her new skirt and shows it of to Eddie. He likes it but he doesn’t want other boys to see her wearing that and so he says to her, â€Å"you’re a baby, you don’t understand these things. † Eddie is saying that she can’t be going out wearing short skirts, high heels and ‘walking wavy’. He is only looking out for Catherine. Beatrice has also realized that Catherine is still acting like a little girl in front Eddie. Beatrice says to Catherine on page 30, â€Å"†¦ like you sit on the bathtub talkin’ to him when he’s shaving, in his underwear. † Beatrice is trying to explain to Catherine that she can’t still be doing that, because Beatrice knows that Catherine is trying to show everyone that she is independent, but Catherine doesn’t seem to understand because Beatrice says to her again on page 30, â€Å"but if you act like a baby, then he be treain’ you like a baby. Like when he comes home sometimes you throw yourself at him like when you was 12 years old! † This shows that Beatrice is really trying to tell Catherine that she has to stop acting like that in front of Eddie, because she isn’t 12 years old anymore, she is nearly 18 years old. This links in quite well with the meaning of this play because; Catherine wants Eddie to have enough faith in her, to let her go to do whatever she wants. Another character who is part of this is, Rodolfo. He and his brother, Marco, are illegal immigrants from Italy. They are Beatrice’s cousins and who have come over to America to work and earn some money to send back home, for their poor families. From the first time Rodolfo met Catherine he really liked her, and as Catherine got to know Rodolfo, she began to like him, a lot. Eddie soon realizes that there is something going on between Catherine and Rodolfo, because they are going out a lot together and coming home late. Eddie feels jealousy towards Rodolfo because he feels like Catherine is never at home anymore and she is always out with Rodolfo. Eddie is obviously jealous of Rodolfo, and he doesn’t really like him as much as he did, this is because Eddie thinks that all Rodolfo wants is his papers so he could stay in America and become an American citizen. This is not true at all, Rodolfo and Catherine are in love and that is why they want to get married. When Eddie found this out he really didn’t know what to do, but he did know that he wasn’t going to attend their wedding! This made Catherine really upset and she felt as thought she had lost her faith in Eddie, because he can’t be happy for her; whoever she would be with. This brings me to a different character in the play, someone who is very trustworthy and loyal. Alfieri is a lawyer and so he knows everyone in the neighborhood and their problems. Everyone always comes to Alfieri because he is a very honest and fair man, who people respect. From the first moment Eddie started to feel ‘bad’ about the whole Catherine and Rodolfo situation, he straight away turned to Alfieri, because Eddie knew he could tell Alfieri anything; even if it’s nothing to do with the law. When Eddie is talking to Alfieri on page 31, Eddie had explained the whole situation to Alfieri asked Eddie if there is a question of law somewhere and he also added, â€Å"Because there is nothing illegal about a girl falling in love with an immigrant. † But Eddie is convinced that all Rodolfo wants is his papers, Alfieri said to Eddie that he doesn’t know that but Eddie is determined for Catherine not to be with Rodolfo. As the conversation draws to an end, Alfieri says to Eddie on page 34, â€Å"†¦ let her go. That’s my advice. You did your job, now it’s her life. † Alfieri is trying to help Eddie saying that there is nothing he can do just wish her luck and let her go. Eddie thanks Alfieri; this shows trust between Eddie and Alfieri because even though Eddie doesn’t like Alfieri’s advice, he still tells him he won’t do anything, because there is nothing he can do. But later on Eddie betrays Alfieri’s trust and he calls the immigration bureau. On page 50 he says, â€Å"I want to report something. Illegal immigrants. Two of them. That’s right. † He also tells them the address and that he is just around the neighborhood. But when they start to question him further, he hangs up. There is also a lot of trust between the neighborhood and people seem to get along quite well. But when Eddie found out that there are two more illegal immigrants living upstairs with Marco and Rodolfo, who are Lipari the butchers nephews, he realizes that he just snitched on them as well as Marco and Rodolfo. Now he is scared because Lipari the butcher’s families are very hot headed and he will be in trouble when Lipari finds out Eddie snitched on them. So when the immigration officers show up on Eddie’s door Beatrice is shocked because she realizes what Eddie had done and she is ashamed with Eddie, because she never thought he would actually do that. The immigration officers start to search the apartment, they found no one, and so they run upstairs. Soon they come back down with Marco, Rodolfo and the two strange immigrants; Catherine follows down, suddenly Marco breaks from the group and dashes into the room and faces Eddie, Marco spits in Eddies face and shouts, â€Å"that one! I accuse that one! † Marco wants the whole neighborhood to know that Eddie was the man who snitched them up and Eddie was the man who snitched them up and Eddie tries to explain himself on page 58 but Lipari turns away with his arm around his wife, and they walk away, Eddie shouts â€Å"for Christ’s sake! I kept them, I gave them the blankets off my bed! † by saying this he is still trying to explain himself to everyone, but they just turn away and walk off, even his close friends, Louis and Mike. Eddie now learns how important trust is and he also realizes that the neighborhood has lost their trust and loyalty in him. In conclusion I have found out that in this play there is a lot of trust and loyalty between; Catherine and Eddie and Rodolfo, Beatrice and Eddie, and Alfieri and Eddie, but in the end there is not so much trust between Eddie and the neighborhood, more like betrayal. In that neighborhood there are quite a few immigrants working on the piers, but people keep it to themselves, because no one wants to snitch. This proves there is trust between everyone in the neighborhood. I think that Miller’s point of this play was to, actually make people realize that life isn’t just all happy endings but there are some issues which need to be talked about, like trust and loyalty in a illegal immigrant environment. I think this quote I got from the back of the book explains my point, â€Å"all the plays that I was trying to write were plays that would grab the audience by the throat and not release them, rather than presenting an emotion which you could observe and walk away. † – Arthur Miler.