Sam L’Huillier 11D English

“Justice is very important here”

‘A View from the Bridge shows that, while justice is important, it is not always the same as the law.’ Discuss.

Justice, the moral principle determining just conduct. Justice cannot always be determined by the law as it
can conflict with laws of the community and an individual’s personal views on what is right and wrong. The
screenplay ‘A View from the Bridge’ by ‘Arthur miller’ explores in depth the different kinds of justice, such
as that of a particular character or of the general public, as well as the way it differentiates itself from the law.
This is all done through several different scenes in the play, the more obvious ones being the tragic fate of
Eddie Carbone, the deportation of Marco and Rodolpho as well as the communities general view on the way
illegal immigrants are to be protected and hidden from the government eye. The problems all began when
Beatrice’s cousins, Marco and Rodolpho, arrived illegally in America aboard a ship headed from their home
country of Italy. At first the only issue was Eddie’s dislike of Rodolpho which started out quite simply as “He’s
different” but rather quickly transformed into raging jealousy leading to Eddie’s harsh actions towards the
immigrants and ultimately to his demise.

The first major example of justice and law in the screenplay is that of the unwritten law to protect all im-
migrants. In the Redhook community protecting all illegal immigrants has become an everyday part of
most people’s lives and anyone to go against this ‘tradition’ will have all their respect, friendships, and way
of life destroyed in a matter of seconds from one badly made decision. While sitting around the table with
the family Eddie explains to Cathrine and Beatrice that “you can quicker get back a million dollars that was
stole than a word you gave away.” This quote shows the irony and madness behind Eddie’s character but more
importantly is a brilliant example of how important it is, in Redhook, to keep your mouth shut.

The death of Eddie Carbone shows Marco’s thoughts on justice and how it should be dealt out. After being ar-
rested Marco serves out his version of justice on Eddie in the form of humiliating him in front of the commu-
nity by spitting on him and rather loudly accusing him of handing them over to the government. This causes
all of Redhook to loose all respect for Eddie and drive him to the edge of his sanity. Because Eddie feels so
angered by the outcome of his actions he confronts Marco demanding his “respect back” which finally results
in his death. The version of justice here is Marco’s personal views on justice and how a matter such as this
should be dealt out. During the play Marco expresses how he believes that it is disrespectful for him not to
kill Eddie.

In this play Miller delves into many of the reasons why it is important to abide by the law but also why it is so
important to follow the unwritten laws of the community. In the screenplay it is made clear by Alfieri at one
point that if someone abides by the laws “he lives”. Unfortunately, and rather ironically, Eddie follows the laws
yet he still ends up dead because he failed to follow the simplest of all the community laws, to protect illegal
immigrants no matter what. Because of the laws failure to act upon the disrespectful nature of Eddie’s ac-
tions Marco felt it necessary to take matters into his own hands and end Eddie’s life claiming that it would be
“disrespectful” not to.

In conclusion justice is not always determinable by the laws as it can conflict with so many written and
unwritten community laws or the views of an individual. This screenplay shows how justice can differ from
written and unwritten laws through several different scenarios and themes in the play such as the tragic yet
not unexpected death of Eddie Carbone due to a simple act of spite towards the cousins while in a difficult
emotional state.

Mrs. K 693 words Brighton Secondary College