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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 about his family much;
instead, he works as hard as he can, and that is enough to show everybody how
much he cares about them. As a final insult to Eddie, Marco chooses to spit in
his face in front of everybody.
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