"The family had an uncle they were
hidin' in the house and he
snitched."
Eddie tells family how Vinny betrayed his
community. This suggests that Vinny broke the trust
of everyone by going against the code of honour
within the community. Millers uses verb 'snitched' to
emphasise Vinnys shameful, disrespectful behaviour.
This shows us the importance of family honour in the
play and anyone who betrayed this would be an
outcast and punished severly.
"You can quicker get back a
million dollars than a word you
gave away."
Eddie tries to make Catherine understand that you
should never talk about illegal immigrants. Image
effective in getting across to Eddies niece value of
works and how easily things can go wrong. Shows
Eddie values loyalty so much he teaches Cat. Also
shows Eddie's loyalty to family as he protects his
illegal cousins.
"Katie he's only bowin to his passport"
Eddie suggests to Cat that Marco doesn't love her
and wants to marry her to be an American Citizen.
Image suggests Rodolfos love for America, just as one
might bow to worship something important so too
Eddie suggests Rod has his passport as top priority.
This suggests desperation of Eddie in trying to keep
Cat and Rod apart, his sence of love for her is
stronger than the code of honour. He suggests Rod
has no sense of honour by using Cat in this
way,although we know this is false abd leas to the
downfall of Eddie as a tragic hero.
{He transforms what might appear like a
smile of triumph and Eddie's grin vanishes
as he absorbs the look.}
Marco has had enough and tries to stand his ground, showing Eddie who's boss.
Wordchoice transforms suggests a change in atmosphere from the previous casual
family scene to an extremely tense atmosphere. This emphasis the fight for
dominace between the 2 men as Eddie underestimates Marco, although he's
stronger. This shows Marco is trying to take control and defend his brothers
honour by warning Eddie to back off, emphasising how serious the code of honour
and community is between the brothers.
"as she strives to free herself he
kisses her on the mouth"
Eddies unnatural love for Catherine is shown through him kissing her
when drunk. "He kisses her on the mouth" shows how desperate
Eddies is to give Catherine a reason to stay, although his irrational
behaviour pushed her further away adding to his downfall. This shows
Eddie is at rock bottom, letting his feelings take control of him as he
tries to chase Rodolpho away and break up his relationship with
Catherine, taking his lover for her more importance over the code of
honour.
"Illegal immigrants. Two
of them. [He slowly
hangs up]"
Eddie phone immigration on his family, breaking the code of
honour and his connection to the family. "Slowly hangs up" suggests
Eddie is now realising what he has done and already regrets it
slightly, as if he is shocked by his own actions. Miller sets Eddie up
so offensively against betrayal that his transition to the betrayer
seem illogical especially with the similar Vinny Bolzano story. This
shows the character Eddie is dropping towards his downfall by
breaking the code of honour ripping his family apart and not dealing
with the consequences. This is hard hitting and suggests to the
reader things can only get worse for the tragic hero Eddie.
"He's gonna take that back of I'll kill
him! You hear me? I'll kill him"
Marco publicly threatens Eddie in the street, accusing him of
killing hiss children while bring taken away by immigration, due to
Eddies actions. "I'll kill him suggests the lengths Eddie would go to
for his name and honour, shaping the main theme of the play. He is
threatening Marco and it suggests what is to come. This shows
eddies desperation and how things have changed. He never
expected for this to happen or that he'd break the code. He knows
there is nothing else for him to do, he's lost his name and
credibility.
"Oh B, my B"
Eddies calls out for his wife as he dies in her arms. "My B"
suggests Eddies love for Beatrice, not calling for Catherine but for
Beatrice. Eddie is relying on his wife for the first time in ages and
is still unaware of the consequences of his actions. Shows Beas
love for Eddie is stronger than the code he has broken and no
matter what she is there by his side after Marco stabs him
"You're welcome Marco
we got plenty of room
here"
Eddie has Marcos respect as he welcomes the
brothers into his house. This makes the reader
admire him more as he is percieved as
welcoming, pleasant and a family man. This is
before his downfall and is the start of the
authors try to make the reader admire Eddie.
{He is becoming more and more
to address Marco only}
Eddie becomes increasingly more uncomfortable and
uneasy around Rodolfo and begins to ignore him. Eddie
sees Rod as less than him as a child who is not worthy of
Catherine's attention and therefore causing jealousy
and tension and signifying the start of the fall of the tragic hero
Eddie.