The Carbone family Essay Example for Free

The Carbone family Essay In A View From The Bridge, the audience is introduced with three prominent characters who are Eddie Carbone, Catherine Carbone and Beatrice Carbone. All of these characters show their unique qualities in the sense that Eddie is a much more demanding person, whereas Beatrice can be seen as a weaker person who is inclined to follow her husband Eddie in a patriarchal society and Catherine who is loose in terms of her actions and naive through her words. The familys values are very strict as the reader can infer from the story of Vinny Bolzano. First of all, Eddie Carbone is a simple person who is a victim of circumstances but he also contributes to his own downfall. He works as a longshoreman at the Brooklyn Docks. Eddie is characteristically uneducated but still is a very hardworking man. He is presented as being dignified and having integrity by being proud and honest. These characteristics are seen from him when he says to Beatrice that, All Im worried about is you got such a heart too big a heart. This shows that Eddie is observant and he is mindful of the fact that his wife can be over-exploited at occasions like when he describes the story of his father-in-laws house burning down. He believes he should be the leader of his house. This can be seen as he talks to Catherine about her new job as a stenographer, Why didnt you ask me before you take a job? This shows that he wanted Catherine to ask for permission and to authorise it from himself. This manly character of Eddie means that he feels as the boss of his house and that he would be insulted if not done otherwise. This is one of the cause of his collapse at the end of the story being too masculine that he couldnt show his emotions as everything was bottled inside. Eddie is also an affectionate and big-hearted man, which can be seen by his esteem for Marco and Rodolfo when they come to stay. For example at what time Marco tells Eddie in a formal manner, that when you say go, we will go Eddies response to this was that theyre welcome he also adds that theyve got plenty of room here. Eddie also believes in family loyalties, this is mainly due to the tightly bound Sicilian community that he comes from originally. Eddie is over-protective towards Catherine and this can be seen from the apparel that Catherine wears and shows it to Eddie in a very excitedly manner. This is shown when he says I think its too short. Eddie feels more affection for Catherine than is natural for a man towards his niece. Catherine, I dont want to be a pest, but Im tellin you youre walkin wavy. Eddie said this phrase when Catherine wears a new skirt she had brought, to show Eddie. He is concerned that she will receive attention from men, which Eddie doesnt like as he thinks of Catherine as his. He also says you isnt all the girls. Here Eddie means that Catherine is his, and that he is much more demanding of her Catherine should only do what he says her to do. All of these factors motivate Eddie to be over-protective of Catherine. Due to Eddies strong beliefs in the Traditional Italian Values it has a great effect on his own life and the lives of those surrounding him, so when Catherine proposes the job as a stenographer, Eddie strongly opposes this, whereby he wants to keep Catherine away from other men, (sickened) I know that neighbourhood B. , I dont like it ,however this could also be because of his traditional views whereby the male is the breadwinner, and will provide for the family, and if Catherine too brings in money for the house then Eddie may take it as an assault on his manhood. Also due to Eddies traditional Italian values he is immensely proud as is expected, and therefore will never admit that he is wrong or admit his unacceptable feelings for Catherine.